


Celebration

by Skyinou



Series: Wants, Needs, Help, and a whole lot of trouble. [9]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Comfort, EVERYBODY Needs a Hug!, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Season 05
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:09:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29473752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyinou/pseuds/Skyinou
Summary: The day has been set. TheEnd-of-the-warCelebration will take place 21 days after the fact, to give people enough time to put various things in order. For some it's their jobs; kingdoms don't simply get back up on their own. For some it's their homes; there is a lot of reconstruction to do. For others it's themselves; there are a lot of scars to heal and the most resilient ones are those of the mind and the heart.OrVarious short stories happening shortly after the end of the show, that will lead to a big party!
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Huntara/Lonnie (She-Ra), Kyle/Rogelio (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Series: Wants, Needs, Help, and a whole lot of trouble. [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2056884
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31





	1. D-6 : Lots of work to seal and ship

**Author's Note:**

> Beginning at Celebration Day minus 6 (please read my other stories to fill the gap between that and Prime's defeat), a bunch of stories leading to that very much needed big party. When I do hope that you will read some of my other stories, these are made to be enjoyable on their own! Have fun!

The atmosphere in the meeting room was quiet and heavy. Some of the enormous piles of reports and documents they had to go through were almost at the height of Glimmer’s eyes and she had to lean sideways to properly see the others when talking to them.

The queen, her general and intendant had all put off the less urgent tasks for later, during these first ten days or so of peace, and that had stacked up and ended like this, way higher than they thought it would. Most of it was paperwork and busywork, nothing insurmountable but to put it simply: very boring and absurdly time consuming.

They had been at it all day already and the night was probably going to be spent in the same fashion. Micah was here to help, his knowledge of the kingdom even if a little outdated was a great help, but like the others he had never ruled in time of peace.

And even if nobody would ever allow themselves to call it a ‘problem’, they had to admit it was more troublesome that they anticipated. Without bigger worries or threats anymore, people were naturally turning their attention to whatever details they had not dared to ask during these few decades of conflict. That was a lot of catching up to do.

For one, money and trades. During the war, there was never a question about how much should be spent for the Princess Alliance. It was a given that security had no price, but now the remaining threats were all relatively small in comparison and the cost for taking care of them up for debate. A lot of adjustments were also required, new routes were open to commerce and previous taxes were argued upon. Every craft had officially made that little request they had been putting off for a long time or some change they had wanted to suggest for ever. There was even something about fishing regulation that Glimmer had no idea what to make of.

Two, people putting their noses into the castle affairs. It was a good thing that people were interested in diplomacy and everything, but it also meant a lot of justification to give with each new order. And more than ever, the residents of the castle had to keep earning their places here. Having saved the world was fine but they couldn’t afford to appear lazy now, when common people were giving their all at starting this new era. Well, maybe She-Ra could but Adora was too hard-working for that, and with Glimmer being her kind conscious self there was no way she would ascertain her place and rights by force and magic power only.

The queen wasn’t taking it badly, most of those files were not complaints but interesting ideas and justified requests, and that was all fine. It just created… that. Those big piles of documents covering about every single aspects of the kingdom as well as half of the table. It was long, a lot of subjects had to be researched upon a little before taking a decision, they were understaffed since a larger non-military council had not been required for decades, and it was painfully boring.

Three, there were obviously also plenty of concerns about Glimmer welcoming a lot of ex-Horde members in the new part of Bright Moon under construction and the clones condition to which the queen wanted to write answers personally.

And a little pile of reports from Entrapta and Bow’s studies on Prime’s network, bots and drones, ships and spires. More than one were sealed for secrecy which was not making the queen comfortable at all, but she could see Catra glancing at them frequently with increasing curiosity and honestly she had to admit that it was the only things that could be considered exciting in there.

Lonnie was here too, working on training schedules at the cleaner end of the table, more as a psychological support to the team than a helping hand since it was neither her field of expertise nor part of her job, and she could have worked anywhere else but Glimmer had insisted. And she too had her eyes wandering from time to time to the sealed pile, obviously the only one worthy of interest from an external point of view.

The five of them worked mostly in silence, only exchanging words when needed. Catra and Juliet had already efficiently managed the documents, distributing the piles to each person best suited to take care of them, yet the dullness of the atmosphere was almost palpable.

Juliet had everything under control in the military department but today there wasn’t much about that. Catra had been focused on the construction of the new district therefore she had only glimpsed at a few aspects of Bright Moon’s management that Glimmer had consulted her about. And Micah was doing his best at counselling without taking the decision out of his daughter’s hands, which was certainly sweet but ultimately slow.

As the work progressed, eyes were glancing more and more often at the _science_ report pile that, for a good reason, Glimmer was saving for last. Unsealing those was probably going to be like opening an exciting window to the larger universe and she knew that after reading this, they would have trouble focusing on Bright Moon’s more common and boring affairs afterwards.

It must have been the middle of the night when they finally could see most of the second half of the table top again. Glimmer sighed and stretched her arms and shoulders. There were only two piles left untouched among the other remaining documents scattered over the table. The sealed one. And the _Celebration Day_ one.

The Princess Alliance had decided to establish a new annual celebration. They could not do that the day of Prime’s defeat because there was too much to do, instead they chose to span the event over about twenty days, like they were doing now. Every year people would mourn and remember, getting their things in order from the day of the end of the war to the day of a gigantic party at the end of the event, for which all of Etheria would take part. Of course not all the people in the same party but everyone would be able to celebrate all over the kingdoms.

They still had a few days left and most things had been taken care of already, therefore only minor details remained to be fixed. Supplies were organised for every kingdoms to have their parties be something to be remembered, and the main decision, where the _Princesses Party_ would take place had been forcefully set in stone, or more literally in ice, by Frosta. She had made it crystal clear that after the Princess Prom’s disaster a few years ago she wanted to host a big party once again in her ice palace to properly enjoy it to the end this time, and she was not about to let this opportunity pass.

The thought had Catra’s blood turn cold in more senses than one. That was not her best memory, even for the dancing with Adora part, that had left her with an awfully more bitter than sweet feeling, but like Frosta even if their reasons were different, maybe redoing that party would help her forget and get over it.

Catra growled loudly to help her force the bitter memories out of her mind and think of something else. “Rrrr! That’s it. I’m opening one of those!” She proclaimed grabbing one of the sealed report.

“Catra! You are not supposed to-” Glimmer interrupted herself in the middle. She looked around at the few remaining other papers on the table. There wasn’t much left and it was pointless to try to stop Catra anyway. That was absolutely NOT because she was curious herself, not at all.

“Gh!” Catra’s eyes went wide and she froze, letting only her eyes move and glance back and forth between Glimmer and Lonnie, who raised her head surprised to be suddenly included. “Lonnie- do you- like space?” Catra hesitantly stuttered.

“How could I know? I never went there, unlike you!” Lonnie defiantly replied. She expected Catra to laugh and make fun of her but Catra’s dry chuckle and nervous smile were quite far from that.

Glimmer teleported behind Catra and started to read above her shoulder. She made the same stunned face, looking at Lonnie too, who began to panic a little.

“What?!”

“It seems,” Glimmer breathed deeply. “That we are now in control of a bunch of fully operational starships? Therefore your new squads will have to learn how to use them as soon as possible, so it means you too?”

Lonnie’s jaw dropped. She knew she had been tasked to train new recruits in prevision of anything hostile that could come from space, but she had not thought about getting them, let alone herself, out there.

Micah started to laugh warmly. “Lonnie, first captain of Etheria space defence force! That sounds impressive!” That didn’t help the girl relax though.

“I’m supposed to train those guys, not lead them.” Was all that Lonnie’s brain managed to formulate, torn between being overwhelmed and the little voice in the back of her mind squealing at the idea of commanding a ship, her own ship, in space, among the stars, a fricking starship!

“Nowhere in your contract does it state you can’t do both.” Juliet intervened matter-of-factly but also not helping Lonnie relax either.

“Anyway, you need to learn how they work to do either. I know you are bad at new things, but I think you will work that one out.” Catra snidely added, a large grin replacing her shocked expression from before.

“Yeah…” Lonnie replied, stunned, she honestly had no idea, but Catra being Catra was helping her believe it, if only to make the feline girl shut up.

“You can do it!” Glimmer blinked next to her enthusiastic and grabbed her shoulders. “Let’s go to Dryl tomorrow morning!” She continued without waiting for any kind of response.

“Morning, right.” Catra pointed at the table, still full of documents, showing her fang through a smirk.

“Ugh.” The queen groaned at the sight of all the work that still needed to be done before and teleported back to her seat.

“You knew about those ships before you gave me that job?” Lonnie asked while everyone began to work again.

“There are more than forty just around Etheria. We don’t want people to know and worry about them. The only one you can clearly see is Prime’s main ship that Adora turned into a giant floating tree and that is not really menacing. The others automatically went back to a higher steady orbit before shutting down, far enough that you can’t spot them with naked eyes. That’s… what Bow said at least.” Glimmer added the last part after seeing the questioning stares of the others.

After that little distraction they focused on taking care of the last remaining documents aside from the two small saved-for-last piles. When they were finally down to only that, Juliet and Micah disappeared quietly, having done their part, letting the younger ones deal with celebration preparations and science mysteries.

Seeing Lonnie still uncomfortable, Catra couldn’t help herself. “Are you that scared?” She snickered. No answer. But as she faced the pile in front of her again, something little and hard hit her shoulder. She glanced back just in time to see Lonnie hide a rubber band under the table, and a feigning-ignorance little sheepish smile on her face.

That was a well known _game_ in cadets classes. With unruly kids all around learning how to fight with what they had at hand, sitting in classroom during hours for boring lectures was not often ending calmly behind the back of the supervisors. And when the distance was too great for fists to reach, all kind of _things_ were often sent flying.

Most cadets were shooting the rubber bands at each other but that was inefficient. Catra had usually been ignoring all that, her claws and attitude dissuading people to even aim at her, but if she had to choose, like Lonnie who knew how to be smart about it, using only one rubber band between two fingers to shoot pieces of paper tightly rolled and bent in two was the way to go. In a classroom one would never run out of ammunition that way.

Catra looked around searching for something to use as a sling. “Ow!” She took another hit right in the nose and Glimmer raised her head intrigued by her sudden loud voice.

Lonnie’s face was bright red, like she knew it was ridiculous and immature and yet she was unable to stop herself. With no reason to hide from Catra anymore, she aimed her third shot openly over the table. Catra deflected it with a stack of documents, sending the projectile to almost hit Glimmer who recoiled strongly from the surprise. For a second Lonnie feared that the queen would act like a supervisor in their cadets classroom, scolding and punishing them for the unruliness and for ruining exercises paper sheets.

Glimmer teleported near Lonnie and observed her hands attentively. “Can I try?”

Lonnie chuckled silently. Glimmer’s behaviour was once more not what she expected but at this point it was useless to be surprised anymore. She placed the rubber band around the queen’s thumb and index then hold out an already prepared projectile to her.

Without hesitation Glimmer aimed at Catra and fired. Her lack of experience made the rubber band fly away from her fingers too and she winced disappointedly before teleporting to catch it expertly in mid-flight. She blinked back beside Lonnie and hold it back to her.

“It’s okay, I have another.” Lonnie dismissed her hand smugly as she placed another band between her own fingers before aiming at Catra again. She was still heavily blushing but also grinning like a little kid. With an understanding nod, Glimmer prepared to try to shoot once more in the same direction.

“Hey! That’s not fair!” Catra protested as the two other girls were apparently teaming up against her.

“Like you even know what that word means.” Sparkles teased back.

“I’m not the one who hired Lonnie without talking about the ships or the teleportation platform.” Catra retorted as teasingly.

Lonnie froze. “The what now?”

“Teleportation platform. Prime surely had a proper name for it though. The device he was using to send staff and supplies to the planets or back to his ship instantly?”

“Catra!”

“Whaaat, it’s only _fair_ that she knows!” Catra shrugged, maintaining a wide fang-showing grin.

“We don’t even know if we can make it work!”

“Like the ships, yeah. Also Lonnie fought against you for as long as I did, so I don’t know why you would team up against _me_.”

Lonnie tensed up for a moment. Catra throwing that out as a joke was too much to simply laugh it off on her own, but then Glimmer winked at her and teleported a few feet away, grabbed a discarded paper and started to make her own projectiles.

Both of them started to shoot at Catra, who couldn’t fire back because of her lack of weapon, only deflect the pieces of paper with an improvised folder-shield. They also started to fire at each other since Catra was not a threat for the moment, until the feline girl noticed that another folder on the table was tied close with an elastic, very much usable to throw projectiles too.

The meeting room turned into a big chaos as pieces of paper were flying around and the three girls were laughing. It had started hysterical, suddenly unwinding from a long boring day and fatigue, but as the battle proceeded in that childish manner their laughter had become playful, almost cheerful.

They definitely had not had enough of that while growing up, playing and laughing freely between friends without having to think about the consequences, or without the ever present threat that they could die in battle the next day, and it was nice and warm. They managed to not destroy important documents in the process, though they had discarded a lot of them and saved the content of others on Glimmer trackpad already so it wasn’t surprising.

Catra felt a little proud too. It might have been the first time she was hearing Lonnie laugh wholeheartedly like that. In the course of the last days, Catra had started to accept that she had had a pretty shitty deal being raised by Shadow Weaver, but that didn’t mean that other cadets had a happy life either, and Lonnie was the perfect example of it. She was strong and serious, had accepted her place and had done a good job in the Horde, but _happy_ would have never been a word used to describe her. Being part of Lonnie’s fun now made Catra feel better.

In a last assault Glimmer teleported behind Catra and her projectile hit right at the tip of the feline girl’s ear, protectively flattened backward.

“AOWW!” Catra meowed and reflexively held her hands to her ear as she fell to her knees. The surprise more than the pain brought tears to her eyes.

“I’m so sorry!” Glimmer panicked at the sudden serious reaction.

Seeing the princess more worried than she herself was hurting, Catra smiled timidly. “It’s okay, I’m fine.” She sniffled.

Glimmer leant down over her and grabbed her hands away to inspect the poor ear. It was red but it didn’t seem bad. The princess sighed in relief and pulled Catra back to her feet but the worry was still showing on her face as Lonnie approached, concerned too.

“Sparkles, I’m okay, my ears are sensitive, but if they were that fragile I would have lost them long ago!”

Lonnie started to laugh again but wryly and dryly. “You people are too much! I don’t know how you manage to have your mood go up and down like that every day and not freak out! It was stupid, we shouldn’t have played like-”

Glimmer instantly teleported closely in front of her, frowning. “Wasn’t it fun?”

“That’s not the point. We are not kids-”

“Did you have fun?” Glimmer’s face turned into a soft smile.

“Like I said, we should have been more responsible-”

“Did. You. Have. Fun?”

“Yes.” Lonnie smiled very timidly, like a kid allowed to break a rule for the first time but not sure if it’s really really okay. “But-”

“It’s okay to have fun! How can you enjoy life if all you do is worry? Yes little accidents happen, but you can’t appreciate anything if you stay sheltered in a box. Some risks are okay, it’s not like we could really hurt each others!” Glimmer exploded.

Lonnie glanced at Catra tenderly rubbing her ear, unconvinced.

“You know what I mean!” Glimmer growled.

“No I don’t!” Lonnie answered strongly. “I don’t have magic or claws that can reap through metal or healing power that can make everything all better! I’m normal, worry is all I have to protect people, and you two taking things so lightly hurts!”

“Lonnie, it’s okay to worry about people of course, but you can’t let it be all you are. Don’t underestimate yourself, you are more than that!”

Lonnie calmed down and giggled softly, suddenly remembering a previous lecture by a weird magical horse. “Yeah, sorry, I just feel worthless, like I don’t care about others if I take things as lightly as you...”

“I’m sorry you see it that way. We have been surrounded by danger since we were born! If I was all careful and anxious all the time I would have achieved nothing in my life! We take things lightly _because_ we care! If _we_ don’t stay bright and positive, then who will?”

“Welcome to the Princess club! Reckless, brave-stupid, and still getting shit done! You’ll get used to it. I know I did.” Catra answered sweetly.

“Everyone is good at something and they can find ways to enjoy it, then you don’t have to worry that much anymore, only it’s not always what you wanted or expected. Look at Catra, who would have thought that she would be happier and better at managing a kingdom than shredding stuff with her claws!” Glimmer dramatically snickered.

“Hey, I’m pretty good at shredding too!” Catra retorted smugly.

Suddenly, Lonnie’s stare dropped on Catra’s hand and scoffed . “Did you finally trim your claws?”

Catra blushed furiously. Glimmer laughed and smirked. Not the responses Lonnie expected, once again.

“We are not talking about it.” Catra answered shyly, the fact that Glimmer seemed to know exactly what was going on making her even more embarrassed.

“Don’t think that I gave you that job for show.” The queen resumed her talk to Lonnie. “There is a whole universe that we don’t know. Prime left a lot of destruction and pain behind him, when we get out there it’s probably not going to be pretty and friendly. We really need your help and I think you can afford to be more positive about it!”

“I get it, I get it. Enjoy the little things and keep the serious for when it’s really needed.” Lonnie allowed herself to honestly smile. “But we are talking about space and danger-”

“Come on, you think we didn’t notice the stars in your eyes when we mentioned the ships?” Catra grinned once more.

“I know it’s a bit of a stretch,” Glimmer started once more. “But most of the Fright Zone tech you are good at was from the remains of Hordak’s ship, the same kind of ship, maybe they will click with your... warfare touch and fighting spirit? You can stick to the instructor role of course, if you think that will make you happier.” Glimmer almost pouted at that last sentence as if she knew it was not going to be the case.

“Also with a ship, you can travel to the Crimson Waste in like ten minutes, if you can afford the fuel crystal.” Catra’s smirk widened.

“Catra! Not helping!” Glimmer scolded harshly, well, for her friendly standards.

“What? You taught me to enjoy the little things too!” Catra laughed.

“Right. Maybe we should finish the _little things_ we have left to do then.” The queen gestured at the table. Aside from the shredded sheets used as ammunition earlier, there were still two small piles of documents to go through.

With the queen not waiting for her answer once more, Lonnie started to think it was all a big setup to make her relax and feel included in the group. “Did you ask me to stay and work late knowing that one of the report would interest me like that?”

“I knew there would be some fun and adventure in there. There often is with Entrapta’s discoveries, and stars you looked like you needed some!” Glimmer answered as softly as possible.

“Sorry.” Catra’s suddenly uncharacteristically honest voice startled Lonnie. “I know you don’t want to hear it from me, but seeing you laugh and have fun is nice. You should… do it more. I’m learning I’m allowed to, so you certainly are too.” Catra was looking away. That was not the strong image she liked to show but that was some of those things she had learnt she _had_ to say herself, because to some people they wouldn’t sound convincing enough coming from Sparkles.

Lonnie had no answer to that. Those words were indeed not what she expected to hear from Catra, but she couldn’t bring herself to think that she didn’t _want_ to hear them. For all those years since she was old enough to understand her situation in the Horde, she had assumed that her only role in life was that of a soldier worrying over her family and that it was enough. But since they had left the Horde she had wanted more. And once again the idea of commanding a spaceship had the same effect on her as riding Swift Wind two days ago. It was freeing, it was making her dream of something better and she only needed to convince herself that she was allowed to.

The winged unicorn’s words echoed in her head once more and she tried to imagine what Rogelio and Kyle would want for her. And however she thought about it, they would undoubtedly push her to try whatever she wished to do. Maybe she would be useless aboard a ship and she would have to give up but she should at least try.

Her smile betrayed her thoughts and Glimmer pressed her to leave the space talk for the next day, getting back to work to finish as fast as possible. Unfortunately the remaining reports were far less interesting. Maybe it was for the best since they were quickly taken care of and it was really late but the trio kind of regretted the lack of excitement. Soon all that was left was the small details to adjust about the big celebration day.

“You are coming to the Princesses Party, right?” Glimmer asked Lonnie while going through the documents. That party was also serving as a big diplomatic reunion, during which a few official announcements were going to be made, therefore all the princesses would be there in addition to some official representatives from the biggest kingdoms and other regions of Etheria. It would probably be a little more formal and stuck up than the other parties but the queen still wanted to have all of her friends there, of course.

“Should I?” Lonnie preferred to ask back as she knew Glimmer would argue about it all the same if she tried to decline.

“Not that the other parties will be bad, but this certainly will be something! Like a Princess Prom times two!”

“I mean, can I just come like it’s nothing special for an ex-Horde soldier to barge into an official party?”

“Certainly didn’t stop us last time!” Catra snickered. A glint of sadness and regret tainted her eyes but she was braving it for the sake of her snarky remark.

“Ugh. I know I don’t always act like it, but I’m still queen of Bright Moon! If I say you are invited then you _are_ invited!” Glimmer sighed dramatically. “And that includes Kyle and Rogelio of course. Huntara will be there too.”

“Okay…” Lonnie whispered. The two other girls looked at her quizzically. “Okay!” She repeated louder.

“Really? Not even arguing a little?” Glimmer beamed.

“I’m not that difficult to convince you know? It’s just usually you come at me with things out of nowhere.”

“You refused to simply come for dinner, twice!”

“We barely knew each other, and you are queen, and you just hired me, and I never had people inviting me like that before! What did you expect?”

“I don’t know! Adora was always eager to try anything new, even if in some kind of weird ways, I don’t have many other Horde girls coming to me to compare to!” Glimmer laughed.

“I’m hurt. I’m certainly more _normal_ than Adora!” Catra interrupted with a dramatic gesture, holding a hand to her forehead.

“More importantly, you need proper clothes for the occasion, both of you!” Glimmer stared at both of them closely.

“No uniform, you promised!” Catra replied hastily to make sure the queen was talking about _normal_ clothing.

“Kyle… likes his new clothes.” Lonnie suddenly said softly. “I’m not supposed to tell you, so…”

“That’s… I didn’t… good. Thank you.” Catra timidly answered with a faint honest smile showing at the corner of her mouth.

The trio focused on the final bit of remaining work once more and after putting the finishing touch to the last document, Glimmer stared back again at the other two.

“Shall we go shopping together?” She threw with a wide smile and clapped her hands.

“Maybe next time?” Lonnie sighed at the sight of Glimmer’s shoulders dropping. “I think I want to do that first one with Rogelio and Kyle.”

“Adora kind of decided that she would choose both of our outfits.” Catra declined too.

“Okay…” The queen resigned herself and looked out the window. The sky was already starting to brighten and that instantly made her yawn. “We should really go to bed now.”

“Good night Lonnie!” Catra promptly waved, a teasing grin once again on her face.

Before Lonnie could understand what was happening, Glimmer grabbed her and teleported her home. The queen reappeared a few seconds later and together with Catra they made their way to their respective bedrooms.

“You should really let people know when you are going to do that.” Catra snickered softly.

“Yeah, yeah, good night…” Glimmer openly yawned when they arrived in front of Catra and Adora’s room.

“Good night!” Catra swiftly disappeared through the door, joining Adora’s warm embrace for the few hours left before breakfast.


	2. D-5 : Flowers and meditation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra goes to see Perfuma for help. The _meditation_ gets a little deeper than she thought.

Catra stepped further into the room. She had a feeling that it wasn’t real but the scene was too familiar to ignore either. The translucent glass containers showing their bright green liquid, the voices beginning to chant, the arms reaching for her shoulders, ready to force her down in the main pool of that same green fluid glowing like the eyes maliciously smiling at her.

_”That’s enough. Leave that room and close the door. Don’t worry, your door is strong and won’t let them pass through. Take a step back. You are back to your garden, with Melog and Adora smiling for you. Can you see them?”_

“Yes.” Catra was breathing heavily but the soft and confident voice was turning every word into reality. It was the opposite of Prime’s voice. Soft but not sickly sweet, confident but not commanding, and absolutely warm.

_”Good. You can wake up now.”_

Catra’s eyes fluttered open and for a second her blood turned to ice because of Adora’s absence but Melog was curled against her back, purring softly. They wouldn’t if there was any problem. They usually communicated with her through ideas and feelings instead of words. That was making conversing difficult sometimes, but in this occasion it was more powerful than common language and the thoughts Catra was receiving were positive and calming.

After a deep breath, she noticed Perfuma sitting in front of her, smiling comfortingly. Catra needed a moment to process what just happened.

\-----

_Two hours earlier_

Catra was riding on Melog’s back through the Whispering Woods. She had set up a meeting with Perfuma, asking for her help after being reminded of how bad her anxiety could get a few days ago. The princess had happily agreed but had not said anything specific about what kind of help she was going to procure. Obviously it would have to do with meditation but the notion was quite vague for Catra. She only knew that Adora had tried long ago without much results because she was unable to stay still long enough and relax.

She knew she was better at relaxing than her princess at least but she had not seen Perfuma since the last Princess Alliance meeting, the evening of the end of the war, and now she was running late because of the prolonged nap she had taken after work.

The night had been very short after working very much until morning to bring Bright Moon’s affairs up to date with Sparkles and the others, and before leaving to Plumeria, Catra had let herself slumber for a few minutes, which turned out to be almost an hour when Melog finally managed to wake her up again.

Thankfully they were not stingy about physical exercises and were running at full speed trying to make up for the lost time. Catra didn’t need to be able to communicate with them to understand they were still laughing because it was so rare for her to not awaken at the slightest sound or movement. Them running like that now was a kind of apology for that too.

Perfuma was waiting for them at the entrance of her village. She didn’t seem upset about the delay, harbouring her usual friendly smile and waving at them as they approached. She wasn’t wearing her famous pink dress but a blue one instead, Catra noticed. For what she knew about the princesses that was probably not meaningless, and surely the two little baskets in her hand weren’t either.

As soon as Catra hopped off Melog, Perfuma leant down to the magical animal to pat his mane and made a crown of multicoloured flowers appear on their head. If there were two things that Melog really liked on Etheria they would be nature and magic, and Perfuma had the privilege of procuring both at once. A slight jealousy stung Catra as she looked at the scene.

Perfuma glanced at her as she noticed. “You want... flowers too?”

“Uh uh, I’m good!” Catra answered nervously, not really sure if the princess was actually making fun of her or was simply being naive.

“Let’s go then.” Perfuma waited for Catra to nod and led the three of them down a little path.

A few minutes away form the village, Perfuma settled down in the middle of a little clearing, littered by little blue flowers and crossed by a narrow river. She invited Catra to sit down in front of her and handed the feline girl one of the basket. Melog flopped down next to Catra, resting their weight slightly against her leg.

“Those blue flowers are useful for all kind of medicine. I need that little part in the middle.” Perfuma started to talk as she showed Catra how to cut the flower. “I think it should be easy with your claws. You don’t have to go fast.”

“What’s the meaning of this?” Catra tried not to sound too defensive, but she didn’t come her to help gardening.

“It’s just to have something to do, I thought you would rather move your hands than sit perfectly still. I really do use those flowers though. Now try to relax.”

“Then I guess this place or the sweet smell have meanings too?”

“Catra, do you really need to know all that to relax?”

“I… think so.”

Perfuma sighed but her smile didn’t drop. “Everything from the moment you arrived is on purpose? The task to keep your mind and hands occupied, the river to cover other sounds, Melog’s presence against you. Yes, I did ask them. The colour of the flowers, their smell, the size of this place, the light... Therefore we can analyse all that for hours, or we can simply make use of it and focus on what we are here for.”

“I’m not even sure what I’m here for!”

“First of all, you need to calm down. Sit comfortably and take a deep breath. There are no risks and no danger here, the worst that can happen is you losing a few hours of your time!” Perfuma giggled a little.

Catra did breathe deeply and sat more at ease. She wasn’t at work, on a battlefield or on a mission. She even was the one who requested this. “Can I ask you something before we begin?”

“Of course.”

“It’s… just something stupid that I have to ask, okay? Why are you so willing to help _me_?”

Perfuma thought silently for a longer moment than Catra expected. “Who am I? How do you see me?” The princess asked then.

“I don’t know? The super positive always kind flowery princess?”

“Did you ever wonder why Scorpia was in the Horde?”

“Because it was her kingdom before, I guess.”

“With her personality, she would have fit so well with us. Why did she stay there so long?”

“She said she felt that she didn’t belong with the princesses.”

“Exactly. We try to always be kind and righteous but it’s not easy when others are trying to start a war. Especially when you are young, you start feeling that you are superior, that you are worth more than those _bad people_ , that they don’t deserve your kindness. It’s really difficult not to judge them. Why would we have been kind to the traitor princess, friend with our enemy? She was only a kid too, but nobody stopped to take the time to know her, know how nice she was or how great her hugs felt. She was one of the bad people, that’s all that mattered for us righteous ones.”

“Did you meet her before-”

“No. But I could have. And I’m sure princesses like me made her feel that way, that she wasn’t welcome around us. I take time every morning to meditate to be able to offer my better self and sometimes it’s not enough. I didn’t try as much as I should have to understand Entrapta either. We… I got angry at her while she was only trying to help, in her own odd ways. When Scorpia joined us I promised myself not to judge her before really knowing her. Then she got chipped and you arrived and I wanted to rub all the bad things you did in your face again.”

“I deserve it-”

“No! Not for me. Not _from_ me. I didn’t know you. You were just _one of the bad people_. You had your own reasons, your own history. The only person who knew you enough to judge you loves you!”

“She might be a little biased-”

“Did you seduce her on purpose? Did you lie to make her love you so you could hide behind her?”

“No! Of course not-”

“Then it does not matter, Catra. If someone who has known you your whole life, someone good, says that you are worth helping, that’s enough. That should be enough. And I’m ashamed I was not strong enough to respect that. This is why I help you, because you deserve better than being judge by some righteous princess who had an easier life and doesn’t bother learn about you.”

Perfuma started to work on the flowers as to end that discussion. Once Catra started too, the princess taught her some easy breathing exercises, to use whenever she needed to calm down. It took Catra more time than she wanted to admit to really relax and she also soon understood that calming her body was only the first step. She needed to calm her mind too.

“What exactly happened the last time you panicked?” Perfuma asked, her voice always soft and warm.

“Some people I hurt before yelled at me, said I ruined their lives. They had every right to, but it was the first time from people I’ve been close to. I ran away and couldn’t get their words out of my head. Combining that with me running too fast like an idiot and I couldn’t catch my breath when I stopped and I thought I was gonna die.”

“When you were running, did you think about bad things that could have happened or facts?”

“A lot of both, obviously?”

“Things that those people blamed you for? Or other things that _you_ thought-”

“Perfuma, can we not pretend I didn’t do horrible things for the last years?”

“Things from you then. You know, after what you did most people would either stay bad or run away. You do a pretty good job at facing it and keeping up.”

“But I did those thing and I need to live with them. After helping in Salineas I thought I was strong enough…”

“Let’s not talk about what you did anymore, but what you have become. We can’t erase your regrets but you need to let go and forgive, until you accept that you deserve a good life too. Right now, don’t focus on what you did before coming back, only what you earn since then. You saved Glimmer, Adora, and helped all of Etheria, and the universe too. Don’t forget that.”

Unfortunately, the next steps through the meditation and conversation Perfuma tried didn’t go well. Catra was too quick to close and blame herself to stay put long enough and she was losing patience at the lack of apparent progress in all this.

“Catra, we barely began an hour ago. We have all the time you need.” Thankfully, Perfuma’s patience was way higher, even more so because she was prepared for it.

“And what if it doesn’t help? You know in the Horde, _talking_ your problems out was never a thing, maybe I just can’t solve anything that way?”

“Since the end of the war, I helped a few Horde soldiers with meditation and talking. Some were even eager to speak because they could not until now. I don’t believe that anybody would not be helped by words, but maybe you need someone else. I guess you could open your heart to Adora more deeply and honestly than to me.”

“We did talk, a lot actually, but it’s not the same help. Adora is even more anxious and unable to relax than me! I feel safe with her, but we can’t stay glued together all day. I… want to open up to other people, I thought you could show me, but… I don’t know how to describe it...”

“But every time I ask something a little deep and personal your mind freeze and you answer defensively like by instinct?”

“Something like that.”

“Okay. Are you ready to try a little experiment?”

“Please don’t sound like Entrapta!” Catra snickered.

“Sorry. I promise it’s not dangerous!” Perfuma giggled amused. “I tried to keep everything light because I thought it was best for you but maybe I was wrong and on the contrary we should do something a little… stronger, something you can feel. Do you trust me enough to follow my lead without question for the next half hour?“

“You really don’t know how to reassure me, but I guess so?” Catra had requested to come whatever for after all.

“Close your eyes. Breathe. Focus on my voice. Empty your mind.” Perfuma’s voice turned low and slow. “Remember the first exercise. One. Breathe in. Two. Three. Breathe out. Four. Five. Imagine you are in a little garden, enclosed by trees. One. Breathe in. Two. Three. Breathe out. Four. Five. There are little flowers around, Adora and Melog are there with you. One. Breathe in. Two. Three. Breathe out. Four. Five. You only hear the sound of the river and my words. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. That is your safe place. Nothing bad can happen to you here. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.”

It took a bit of time for Catra to let herself enter Perfuma’s world but when she finally got a glimpse of the calm she could find there, her mind instantly fell into it and soon there was nothing else than Perfuma’s voice. It’s calmness, the smooth sounds of the river, the sweet smell making her almost groggy, the warm contact of Melog at her side, and her brain eager to leave reality for a little while.

The princess led her mind to an imaginary door. Behind it, was representations of Catra’s relationship with Shadow Weaver and through that state between dream and consciousness, Catra’s inner walls were down enough so that she managed to speak freely. Instead of being confronted harshly by these memories, she was seeing them from another point of view, as if they were simply animated pictures on the walls.

Catra still didn’t like what she found behind that door, as expected, but Perfuma’s voice, still low and soft, was keeping her detached enough to not get angry and completely wake up nor lose herself far inside the memories and panic.

“Why are those memories making you so angry? She’s gone. She can’t hurt you anymore.”

“I hated her... I thought I did. But it’s like I’m not allowed to.”

“Is it because you are trying to be good now and _hate_ isn’t a good emotion?”

“I don’t think so. I’m not aiming to be that much like you princesses.”

“Do you have fond memories of her that you can’t forget then?”

“No. She never did anything for me. Until…” Catra paused for a second, like she had to dig deep for a memory she had buried. “I did so much just to have her acknowledge me. In vain. And when I thought I finally didn’t care anymore, that I was free from her influence, she had to say she was proud of me. Me!”

‘Ah.’ Perfuma sighed silently. That wasn’t the kind of problem she could tackle right now in that first session. “Close that door. Breathe with me and empty your mind again. Remember the second exercise. One. Breathe in. Two. Three. Four. Breathe out. Five. Calm down, those images are gone now. One. Breathe in. Two. Three. Four. Breathe out. Five. Open the next door. You will find Prime’s ship and the time you spent onboard. What do you see?”

“Tanks full of green fluid. White walls. Clones. Prime.”

“Where is Glimmer?”

“Not here. She’s already safe. I’m alone.”

“You still have things to do there?”

“He promised that my heart would stop hurting and as terrifying as it was, that was not a lie. I could feel nothing.”

“But Adora came for you and you manage to break free.”

“Yes, but it was Adora! Without her… Maybe that fake peace is all I deserve after all. Maybe I should have accepted it instead of fighting it. No pain to endure anymore, no feelings. It seems so appealing… what happens to me doesn’t matter anyway… all I do is hurt people...”

Catra stepped further into the room and Perfuma almost forcefully pulled her back with a few strong words. The princess had not expected Catra to throw herself into those memories. That was enough emotions for now and she decided to wake Catra up.

Catra’s eyes fluttered open and with a little sign, Perfuma asked Melog to help her feel safe again. After a deep breath, Catra started to take in the real world, baffled to have been dragged so deep into a state that she could only consider to be really weird right now.

“What did you do to me?!”

“Nothing, I only made you remember and talk. What happened then was your doing. Now you see how bad you are treating yourself?”

“I don’t need you to tell me!”

“I think you do. You are punishing yourself so badly, it won’t end well.”

“But it’s proof that I’m regretting and try to do better! At least people can see how much I hate what I did!”

“You can’t get better if you are ruining yourself. And now I’m sure I can help you.”

“I don’t need your help!”

Perfuma sighed and for the first time today her smile faltered. She regretted to have not taken enough time to let Catra calm down before talking again. She was confident in her method to help, but it required the other person to be willing.

‘ _You should listen._ ’ Melog intervened and stood in front of Catra.

“Shut up. I don’t want to. I’m leaving!” Before Catra could jump on her feet, Melog had pinned her legs on the ground with their paws.

‘ _Please let her help._ ’

“Shut up! Let me go!”

‘ _NO!_ ’ Melog roared loud enough to startle Catra and make Perfuma shiver. Their ethereal mane was waving red. _Pain. Anger._ It wasn’t the reflection of Catra’s own emotions, they belonged to Melog. ‘ _Let you run away from your feelings once. Not doing it again! Me, Adora, and others, are worried!_ ’ Their mane turned to a very cold pale blue. ‘ _You need to take better care of yourself. You hurting is hurting us too. Please accept help._ ’

Catra looked at them for a moment and realised something she had never even thought about before. Melog had lived a long time, probably more than a thousand years, and when this friend, who had outlived her by so much, was giving her a simple advice, she’d better listen. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how to accept help.” Catra patted Melog’s head slightly.

‘ _It’s okay. You will learn. Only don’t run away._ ’ Melog stepped off Catra’s legs and nuzzled her head tenderly.

Perfuma caught up with the conversation she only had one half of. “Maybe take it this way. For almost twenty years, you received _bad help_ that dragged you down so low while growing up. You didn’t question it, that was just how it was. Is it so wrong to get some _good help_ now to get back up? It’s only fair to balance it.”

“I don’t know.”

“We know you are strong. But even the mighty She-Ra needs help sometimes, you know that better than anyone.”

“But Adora is an idiot, that doesn’t count! Unlike you I don’t think She-Ra is all powerful.” Catra chuckled slightly. That was a pretty petty thought after She-Ra had saved and healed her a few times now. “I’ll try again, but only for Melog.”

“Okay. But I think we better stop here for today. You are welcome back anytime. Now let’s go back to the village and eat dinner! I prepared something nice and light!”

Both girls welcomed the change of pace and the novelty of the meal had the added benefit of giving Catra something to think about. She was slowly getting used to Bright Moon’s food but had yet to discover what else one could eat throughout the other kingdoms. The contraband in the Fright Zone had given her some insight of what she could find and she was now free to try everything. Catra suddenly noticed Perfuma looking at her enjoying her bowl of vegetables. The princess had an unfamiliar stupid big grin on her face.

“What?”

“Sorry!” Perfuma started to laugh. “I remember the first time I offered Scorpia salad! She hated it! I’m happy you like it.”

“How is she doing?” A slight smile found its way to Catra’s mouth for the first time today and she dropped her face in her bowl to hide it.

“Oh, she’s doing great! And the kids love her. I hope she won’t regret not rebuilding her kingdom, but she certainly won’t be bored anytime soon! I’m heading back there to help tomorrow. It’s been odd working with a group of clones but they are like little kids themselves too.”

After dinner Catra spent some more time enjoying the nature of Plumeria with Melog, until it was time to travel back home. Perfuma made her promise to come back soon, playfully threatening to call Adora if Catra was taking too long, and that kind of humour was really helping her even if she was growling at the princess.

\-----

Back to Bright Moon, Catra found Glimmer waiting for her at the castle entrance, with concern written all over her face. The queen pressed her to join Adora in their room but since it was what she would have done anyway, she guessed that the gesture was for Glimmer own peace of mind.

When Catra entered, Adora was lying on her side on the bed, still dressed with her day clothes. The feline girl could only see Adora’s back, but she heard the princess sniffle before getting all silent at the sound of the door.

“What happened?” Catra asked very softly after approaching and sitting on the bed.

“You weren’t here. After today’s work, when I came back.”

“You know I was with Perfuma.”

“I know.”

“And you know I was eating there too.”

“I know.”

“It’s not that far but the trip still takes a little time.”

“I know. It’s just… you weren’t here. It doesn’t make sense, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Adora, it doesn’t have to.” Catra put her hand on Adora’s shoulder and the princess slowly turned in her direction. Catra hugged her and Melog jumped on the bed too, offering a comforting cuddle. “We really are broken. Maybe you should also go see Perfuma.”

“Did she help?” Adora embraced Catra in return.

“I don’t know. Not yet.” Catra then took a dramatic but humoristic voice. “But thanks to Melog I’m stuck with it for now, so you might as well come and suffer with me!” Melog meowed a little at her snarky tone and Adora managed to smile at the familiar exchange. “Have you eaten yet at least?”

“Yeah, Glimmer forced me to.”

“Then let’s get ready for bed, I’m exhausted and we can talk tomorrow, or whenever we want because we can now. I don’t know what I deserve but that at least I’m sure we earned.”


	3. D-Disorder and the limits of science

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few audio logs from Entrapta since the end of the war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sometime lose myself in long descriptions of what I see in my head when I write. So to add a little variety, here is a work with audio only! I hope you enjoy!

**Entrapta** >Side log 0-0-1. All kinds of people have come to ask me about science since the end of the war! It’s been so exciting! I absolutely have to keep records of that. Somehow it’s fun to explain science to… ‘non-science’ people? I’m not good with people, but that way I can interact with them! Though some of them turn around and ignore me half-way through the explanation… I need to study why! Exploring between social experiment and science is soooo fun! I need to find a better folder name for those. I’ll do that later! People’s increasing curiosity is inspiring and working with Bow on studying Prime’s stuff is giving me tones of opportunities! Also Wrong Hordak is getting better at cooking tiny food! If only...

 **Entrapta** >Side log 0-0-3. Adora has been asking me a few times why Catra get dizzy when Glimmer teleports her. It’s fascinating! Her ears are so much more sensitive than ours. Not only to sound, but also pressure, magnetic fields, even magic! So when she suddenly changes from one place to another, they need a little time to adjust. I need to study them more closely but Catra has refused so far! Adora didn’t find my explanation very helpful but there is nothing to be done about it. It’s absolutely not dangerous, it’s just her brain sending weird incoherent signals for a second! If anything, that means her ears are working well. It’s not hurtful… well, I guess it is a little… but there nothing to do… nothing science can do… nothing I can do... aww...  
 _Sound of a hand patting her head_  
 **Wrong Hordak** >There there.

 **Entrapta** >Side log 0-0-6. We are live, Adora is here right now to ask about She-Ra.  
 **Adora** >What are you doing?  
 **Entrapta** >Recording everything for science! So what do you want to know?  
 **Adora** >I… kind of turned into She-Ra not on purpose yesterday?  
 **Entrapta** >How? When? What where you doing?  
 **Adora** >Gh... mm… I can’t give you the details, but something quite surprising happened and I didn’t even notice I had transformed at first?  
 **Entrapta** >Well, it’s a very powerful magic, you can do almost everything with it, so if you were under strong emotions, why not?  
 **Adora** >Aren’t I supposed to concentrate and say ‘For the honor of Grayskull’ for it to work?  
 **Entrapta** >Oh. Oh! No. That was with the First One’s sword. It was designed to help the wielder use the power of She-Ra without training. That password was activating the sword tech which was forcing the magic out of you. That’s why it got so easily corrupted when we- ‘I’ messed with the disc! But now you are using the power of She-Ra on your own, you can bend it however you want theoretically. Of course your brain will imitate the previous She-Ra because its familiarity help you materialise it. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice the little changes and you copying Catra’s headpiece after you rescued her?  
 **Adora** >Hu. Of course I noticed. Why did ‘you’ notice?  
 **Entrapta** >Adora, I’m bad at people, but I’m very good at science, including observation and analysis!  
 **Adora** >Please don’t analyse this too much! I mean, the headpiece.  
 **Entrapta** >Why? It’s fasci-  
 **Adora** >Please just don’t. So you tell me I should be able to do anything with She-Ra?  
 **Entrapta** >Yes! But of course the further it is from the basic She-Ra you learnt from the sword, the more difficult it will be. You can probably wield your actual sword without even turning into She-Ra and making it take all kind of new forms, or completely change She-Ra’s design! But if it’s something you haven’t done, and that no She-Ra has done before you either, it could take you years to control.  
 **Adora** >I kind of realised that. So it’s normal and I shouldn’t be worried, right? Wait… if I managed to give the sword a new form at my first tries, it means that other She-Ras have done it before?!  
 **Entrapta** >Yes, exactly! But are you okay?  
 **Adora** >Everything is fine!  
 **Entrapta** >You sure? You are all red and-  
 **Adora** >I’m okay! IneedtogobacktoBrightMoonnow,seeyoulater,bye!  
 _Sound of footsteps leaving quickly_  
 **Entrapta** >… Why are people always saying that ‘I’ am the weird one!

 **Entrapta** >Side log 0-1-2. I made a terrific discovery! I managed to tap into Prime’s network and started to unlock some of his stuff! Hordak and Bow helped. _Whispering:_ But they hate each other, it’s making the atmosphere really strange, I hate it. _Loud again:_ Hordak is only allowed here when Bow is here. That’s not fair! He helped defeat Prime too, and promised to be better. He shouldn’t-  
 **Hordak** >Entrapta, the ‘terrific discovery’?  
 **Entrapta** >Right! So linking Prime’s network with Light Hope’s planetary mainframe we managed to cover all of Etheria! Now all we need is a few more trackpads and all the kingdoms will be able to keep in touch! And maybe later the whole universe! Bow thinks it’s a bad idea to connect everything together but I made sure it’s safe, and it’s faster!  
 **Bow** >Isn’t that the wrong log?  
 **Entrapta** >You’re right! But it’s so interesting! A little more and I can finally finish what I started aboard Prime’s ship when you- we rescued Catra! Access his main computer and take control of everything!  
 **Bow** >Please don’t make it sound like we want to take over the world…  
 **Entrapta** >But that’s what we are doing! At least the part that Prime controlled!  
 _Bow’s heavy sigh, suddenly interrupted by a few beeps_  
 **Bow** >What did you do? What are those?  
 **Entrapta** >I don’t know! Seems like there are signals hidden inside the basic network. All those dots are locations on the map. And two of them are right here!  
 **Bow** >But one of them looks different.  
 **Entrapta** >Yes! The signal is corrupted.  
 **Hordak** >Those are chips.  
 **Bow** >Didn’t we deactivated them?  
 **Hordak** >Only the external version. All clones have one fused within our body.  
 **Entrapta** >Oooh! Then that corrupted one must be Wrong Hordak, since we broke him!  
 **Bow** >Are you telling me that all the clones are still connected together?  
 **Hordak** >No. Don’t worry. Without Prime’s mind, only that localisation function remains.  
 _Brief silence_  
 **Entrapta** >Don’t look at me! If Hordak says so then it is!  
 _Another brief silence_  
 **Bow** >Well, I can see most of them around the Waste’s Spire as we ordered, and a bunch in the Fright Zone that Scorpia asked to help. At least we know that all clones are where they are supposed to be... except that second corrupted signal near Bright Moon?!  
 **Entrapta** >That’s weird. I don’t think someone else could have accidentally broken another one? We definitely have to investigate that!  
 **Bow** >I guess we should. Also now that we can track him, we might be able to allow Hordak a little more freedom.  
 **Entrapta** >Freedom? How is that free if you are spying on him! That’s not fair!  
 **Bow** >Entrapta, you know we can’t let him run around without keeping an eye on him.  
 **Entrapta** >I understand that you don’t trust him! But why am I not enough? Adora is looking over Catra and Scorpia over a group of clones. But you don’t trust ‘me’ to watch over Hordak!  
 **Hordak** >It’s okay Entrapta. I didn’t expect more after leading the Horde for so long. And honestly, with her new powers Scorpia can take care of a group of clones easily if they cause troubles.  
 **Entrapta** >So I’m too weak to have the right to supervise you?  
 **Hordak** >That’s not what I meant-  
 **Bow** >But Entrapta may be right. We let Wrong Hordak, Scorpia, Catra and her rejoin the rebellion quite easily, it’s not fair to her to treat you so differently and not trust her to be able to keep an eye on you. I’ll talk to the other princesses about that.  
 **Entrapta** >Is there a way to erase those signals?  
 **Bow** >What? Isn’t it super interesting how that even works? We need to study this.  
 **Entrapta** >But… it’s not what science should be for, right? Spying on people...  
 **Hordak** >If that let me spend more time here, I don’t mind for now. We should focus on that other corrupted signal first anyway.

 **Entrapta** >Side log 0-1-3. Wrong Hordak is acting reeeaaaally weird! We found the source of the second corrupted signal. It was Little Imp, the only partially successful attempt at cloning from Hordak. But its body is failing the same way Hordak’s body was when he made it. Thankfully, with all that tech from Prime around, we can fix it!  
 **Wrong Hordak** >Sister Entrapta! They. Are. Not. A. Thing!  
 **Entrapta** >See? He’s been acting like an overprotective parent since we found it- them. He’s been nursing them since yesterday! He almost got us in trouble for trying to take them by force from that Kyle guy! I’m sure I’ve seen him somewhere before. We had to promise to bring them back soon but Wrong Hordak has been complaining about it all this time! Thankfully Bow was there to make things go smoothly. We really needed to bring Little Imp here with us to make them all better.  
 **Wrong Hordak** >If brother Hordak had not messed with cloning in the first place…  
 **Entrapta** >But it’s a super fascinating science too! There are so many possibilities! He just wasn’t careful enough…  
 _Wrong Hordak grumbling_

 **Entrapta** >Side log 0-1-7. Glimmer has been asking me about the Horde ships still in orbit around the planet! Seems like she doesn’t want to ask Bow about them. Apparently he’s still scared of space from the last time we went there! And he should be, space is incredibly dangerous! But also wonderful! I love thinking about-  
 **Hordak** >Entrapta, the ships please?  
 **Entrapta** >Right, right. _Whispering:_ I asked him to keep me focused when I do these logs. Last time was about the science behind Wrong Hordak’s cooking and I ended up recording an hour of talk about Emily’s programming.  
 _Hordak clearing his throat_  
 **Entrapta** >The ships! I need to manually override every lockdown command they received when Prime fell. I don’t think he expected to die but he still had an incredible number of safeguards in place in case he was rendered unconscious or worse. We’ve been catching up on his technology but sadly a lot of data is simply lost, erased or was part of his mind, not his computer. But we are able to salvage the physical stuff like ships or spires, by rewriting part of their programs to activate them again. Truthfully, Glimmer and I think we better disassemble the spires and find better use of all that tech, but the ships on the other hand, she wants Etheria to have its own fleet. It’s going to be a challenge to pilot them, they are made for clones connected to Prime’s mind, unlike Darla, but I guess it will be amazingly fun too! Ah! I almost forgot, I need to check on Darla!  
 **Hordak** >You should inform Bright Moon about the ships we already have under control first. I don’t want other princesses to think we are hiding that kind of information…  
 **Entrapta** >I gave all the written reports to Bow earlier!  
 **Wrong Hordak** >But you just said he was scared. That wasn’t nice-  
 **Entrapta** >That’s okay, I sealed them! Glimmer wanted them like that anyway!

 **Entrapta** >Side log 0-2-0. Adora called earlier to ask about Darla! I’m glad she did, but! But… It’s difficult. I’ve been thinking about it and I need to reconsider some things. Darla is in bad shape after what we put her through! But even without that, she’s old and if not to save Glimmer and my wish to go to space, we should probably never have gone in the first place. We launched as soon as it was barely safe to in that situation but now that we have no reason to hurry, I need to reassess the minimum safety requirements… a lot, if I understand Bow’s reactions to my messages correctly... I wonder if we should even fly her again! Maybe we should use another Horde ship instead, they are more advanced and… But I’ll miss her and I’m sure Adora will hate that too. Okay, so I’m going to have a lot of work then! I’ll fix her, make her safe enough, however long it takes!

 **Entrapta** >Side log 0-2-9. We are live again, with Catra!  
 **Catra** >Are you recording this?!  
 **Entrapta** >Yes! I record most things these days, there is sooo much happening!  
 **Catra** >Okay, then I’m leaving!!  
 _Click_  
 **Entrapta** >It’s off now. What do you want to know?  
 **Catra** >What?  
 **Entrapta** >Oh. Sorry, there are so many people coming to ask me all kind of things, I thought you had a question too!  
 **Catra** >Not really.  
 **Entrapta** >Then why are you here?  
 **Catra** >I don’t know. I wanted to check on how you are doing, I guess.  
 **Entrapta** >Me?! I’m doing great! And now that Hordak is allowed to stay and help me here we are making really good progress on all that Prime stuff!  
 _Moment of silence_  
 **Entrapta** >Thanks for asking? What about you?  
 **Catra** >I’m good, I think.  
 _Another silence_  
 **Catra** >We are not good at small talk, are we?  
 **Entrapta** >No. But I think it’s interesting in its own way! The other princesses like to talk so much, but I only talk a lot about science. But being different can be nice too!  
 **Catra** >Do you sometimes regret not being like them?  
 **Entrapta** >I don’t know. I would miss the science though!  
 **Catra** >What about magic? With Scorpia having powers now, you are the only princess I know without magic power.  
 **Entrapta** >What do you mean I don’t have magic?  
 **Catra** >You do?! Being a genius doesn’t count.  
 _Sound of steps and waving hair_  
 **Catra** >Hey, let me down! What are you doing?  
 **Entrapta** >Catra! I can move my hair! Unlike your tail there are no muscle or tendon in hair. It’s not possible without magic! I can do exactly whatever I want with every strand, it’s actually quite amazing and useful you know?  
 **Catra** >I understand, I understand! Can you put me back down now please?  
 **Entrapta** >Okay! Wait! Do you always land on your feet when you fall?  
 _*slam*_  
 **Entrapta** >Oops. Sorry, I guess not, from this height anyway!  
 **Catra** >Entrapta!!!


	4. D-4 : Loss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra has to confront Glimmer about Angella again, and as always Glimmer doesn't react like Catra thought she would...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used two songs in this short story, all credit to their authors and artists :  
> Warriors - Aaliyah Rose  
> Tears in heaven - Eric Clapton (slightly adapted)

Another boring but fulfilling day of work. Catra doesn’t really like the routine that is slowly becoming her life but at the same time she is proud to see that everything she is doing helps. Bright Moon is getting back up and shows signs of its previous glory, one that she couldn’t even imagine before touring the library a few days earlier. A few decades of war have really messed things up way beyond her own recent attack. Thinking about that last part is still making her shiver but she is now strong enough to not let these thoughts spiral out of her control. And the new district is rapidly raising out of the ground, with skilled artisans and sorcerers helping at the construction of the new buildings.

Also the days she’s working with Sparkles are nothing close to boring. The queen always wants to do more than necessary. Catra chuckles. That probably is a princess thing, like during their trip aboard the ship, when Entrapta couldn’t stay still and every time she was tinkering a little more, something else was breaking. Sparkles is doing the same with her way of ruling. Always doing too much, which often results in more work to adjust something else.

And after a long day, the best part of that _routine_ : spending dinner and the evening with Adora, and sometimes other _friends_. Catra still has trouble calling them her own friends, except for Sparkles, but she is working on that. At least inside the castle, everyone is treating her respectfully and nobody is staring at her anymore like the first days. Even Juliet is more often mad at the queen’s lack of manners or restraint than at Catra’s presence.

Honestly, some days, that lack of resentment is backfiring heavily and Catra feels even worse than if they would all hate her and scowl instead of smile. But today is not that kind of day. She is singing happily as she climbs the stairs of the highest tower of the castle. Adora is going to be late tonight and Catra is thinking of taking a nice little nap, lazily waiting for her princess, all the way high out there on that perfectly placed balcony, with an astonishing view over the kingdom-

“Good evening.”

The low male voice startles Catra and she tenses up, frozen in place at the balcony’s entrance, her hand on the door handle.

“Good evening, Catra!” Glimmer joins her father’s greeting.

“Hi. Sorry, I didn’t think there would be someone here.”

“Don’t worry! Come in come in! Or come _out_ since we are outside!” Glimmer’s enthusiasm doesn’t sound natural, more like the bad energy coming from nervousness. Catra doesn’t dare argue for now and nods, taking a step _outside_ and closing the door behind her.

“Glimmer, I don’t think it’s a good idea-” Micah can’t finish his sentence as Glimmer glares at him, furious.

“What’s going on?” Catra asks after a deep breath and the apparent stand-off in front of her.

Glimmer grabs Catra’s shoulder strongly with one hand, making sure she won’t run away. “Today is mom’s birthday.”

Catra winces. “Then I better leave you two alone…” But the hand doesn’t let her go. Of course she could break free if she really wants to. She can feel Sparkles trembling slightly.

“Please stay.”

“What? Why?” Catra retorts quizzically and notices that Micah is apparently agreeing that Sparkles is not making sense.

“I know today is difficult for you but I think its good to have both of you here.”

“Does he even know?”

“Yes. He knows _everything_. How you saved me, saved Adora, saved the universe, why you opened that portal. I told him the _full_ story.”

“But that doesn’t make it okay for me to intrude in days like this!”

“Because of you I lost my wife, but thanks to you I still have my daughter. I can’t put that on a balance and say if I I’m more grateful or angry! But I agree, today it’s better if you don’t-”

“I don’t care!” Glimmer interrupts. “I’m not doing it for you! I’m being selfish! I miss her! And I want you two to be there for me. I already spent half of today with Bow and Adora, and I planned to spend a moment with you, dad. I didn’t expect Catra to show up but now she’s here and I don’t want her gone. I want my _friend_ to be there for me! We decided to not make a ceremony out of it because people have enough to mourn as it is but I still selfishly want everyone close to comfort me today! I know I’m not fair to both of you but _I_ need it...”

Catra takes her in a slight uneasy hug. Sparkles has done that for her a few times already, both as a joke and seriously to make her feel better. She has to at least try to do it in return in these moments. Micah grabs Glimmer’s shoulders softly.

“Okay baby girl.”

“Can you not call me that in front of others?” Glimmer smiles faintly, contrasting her words.

“So, what do I do?” Catra asks after a moment of silence, not comfortable enough to simply stay still that long.

“I don’t know. Maybe you can sing with us? I know you started to do that often since the last picnic around the fire. Singing from up here to the world below feels nice.” Glimmer waits for Catra to nod and she turns her back to the castle, facing the large landscape reaching far beyond the kingdom’s border. Both hands on the balustrade, she begins to sing.

_We're warriors  
Unstoppable_

Instead of following Glimmer in the usual upbeat version of the song, Catra takes over and turns it into a slow and deep melody. She doesn’t mean to be rude by changing the song, she just think it is more fitting and sensible that way for the current moment, and Glimmer follows her lead, though after a little elbow strike at Catra’s side.

_We feel the evil coming  
And shadows all around  
Danger surrounds us  
But won't bring us down_

_We're on the edge of greatness  
Turning darkness to light  
We're right beside you  
Ready to fight_

This song has become something like an anthem for the Princess Alliance and Catra caught Adora, Glimmer and Bow humming it quite often.

_We must be strong  
And we must be brave  
We gotta find every bit of strength  
That we have and never let it go_

The words and melody are flying out of the balcony, spreading in the air and carried away by the soft evening wind. The sun is setting and slowly a multitude of lights is beginning to appear in the towns and villages below to replace it. The two girls continue the song that way, side by side in front of the world until the end.

_We must be strong  
And we must be brave  
We're gonna reach inside  
Stand together and fight  
And never let it go  
We must be strong_

“I’m sorry I wasn’t brave enough sooner.” Catra whispers.

Glimmer pats her hand softly. She understands that Catra’s words are meant for Angella therefore she doesn’t answer. “That’s a nice way to sing that song, thanks. Your turn, dad!” She tries her best to sound cheerful, and as to not let her time to tear up, Micah starts to sing.

_Would you know my name?  
If I saw you in the stars  
Would it be the same?  
If I saw you in the stars_

_I must be strong  
And carry on  
'Cause I know I don't belong  
Here in the stars_

Luckily Catra knows that song too and for Sparkles who has so honestly asked earlier, and Angella to whom she owes everything tonight, she joins in.

_Would you hold my hand?  
If I saw you in the stars  
Would you help me stand?  
If I saw you in the stars_

Those words hit Catra pretty hard and echo what Sparkles has told her before a few times. Angella would have taken her hand and helped her if Catra had known her earlier. But now all Catra can do is honour Angella’s memory and try to live up to what her friends believe she can be.

_I'll find my way  
Through night and day  
'Cause I know I just can't stay  
Here in the stars_

_Time can bring you down  
Time can bend your knees  
Time can break your heart  
Have you begging please  
Begging please_

Somewhere in the middle Glimmer has also started singing. Honestly Catra isn’t sure how she feels. All of this is so new that she can only follow and forget how she even ended here in the first place. Sparkles asked, she agreed, and there is now only the three of them and a song, carried away by the wind over the land.

_Beyond the door  
There's peace, I'm sure  
And I know there'll be no more  
Tears in the stars_

Micah then finishes the song alone, Catra and Glimmer coming to a silent understanding that it is better that way. Sparkles breathes deeply. She has a few tears rolling down her cheeks but she doesn’t care about them. It is still foreign to Catra but she is beginning to accept that there are days like these when one is allowed, even expected, to cry, and nobody around is questioning or making fun of it.

“Your turn.” Micah says facing Catra.

“I don’t know. I’m not used to-”

“You have a pretty good voice.”

“No, I meant, important days like this. I’ve never had a birthday or party or whatever before we defeated Prime. I don’t know what is appropriate-”

“Oh! Right! We need to choose a date for you too!” Glimmer suddenly interrupts. “Adora didn’t know her own birthday either.”

“That’s true for most kids in the Horde.” Catra completes.

“You can’t grow up without birthday parties!” Micah erupts!

“You don’t have to pity me…” Catra retorts defensively.

“It’s not pity, it’s anger! It’s just… sad!” Micah gestures dramatically like Glimmer is usually doing too.

“Is that so important?”

“Of course! Not the exact date, that’s only a pretext, but the occasion! Having a day just for you, with friends and family close, reminding you of how much they love you and spoiling you. Everybody should have that. We never missed one even with the war going on!”

“Dad. I think she gets it already. But that’s for later. What are you going to sing?”

“Do I really need to?”

“We won’t force you… but I think it’s a good idea. You can sing whatever you want, we won’t judge, I can promise that. It doesn’t have to make sense for us, as long as it makes sense for you.”

“Fine.” Catra sighs. Having Sparkles say ‘I think it’s a good idea’ always feels like she is saying ‘I know better than you so you better do it’, but as infuriating as it is, she is usually right in these emotional moments. “I guess I owe _her_ to try. Please give me a moment.” Catra faces outside again, her hands gripping the balustrade tightly and she closes her eyes.

Glimmer and Micah stand next to her patiently in silence and Glimmer puts a hand over one of hers to help her relax. After a deep breath to get over the reflexive annoyance of being casually touched by anyone other than Adora, Catra calms down and focuses.

_I closed my eyes again  
To see if she was gone  
I still feel her fires  
Burning inside my head  
Wish my heart you cooled down  
Could forget the embers  
She spread them all around  
To keep me warm and sound_

_I can’t let her go..._

Glimmer and Micah doesn’t move, almost doesn’t breathe. They let Catra space to sing.

_Give me streams of water  
To put out her fire  
My kingdom of papers  
Is burning, she snickers  
At you inner softness  
Showing off her own strength  
Mistake after mistake  
I deserve her sweet ache_

_Still can’t let her go..._

Catra’s voice is trembling as she goes on, forcing the words out with her pain. Her claws are ready to unsheathe and crush the stone in her grip, only reminded not to by the gentle contact of Glimmer’s hand.

_When nothing remained  
You came back to mourn  
She already chased  
Everyone down  
Some I don’t even know  
Yes I understand now  
They all deserved better  
Than burning in fire_

_So I’m letting her go_

_If I met her again  
The day she drove you out  
I would keep you safe  
Wouldn’t forget your warmth_

“I’m sorry, I guess it was more about me than Angella-” Catra can’t finish her sentence that Sparkles takes her in a big tight hug.

“It’s okay, Catra. It’s okay. I’m sure she understood you.”

Micah puts a hand on Catra’s shoulder as an agreement to Glimmer’s words and starts to exchange some old happy memories with his daughter to ease the atmosphere. Catra knows she isn’t supposed to cry today, not her, not after being the cause of this, and Micah is kind enough to not act in a way that would push the tears out of her.

After a little conversation with her dad, Glimmer finally lets go of Catra and gently pushes her to the door. But to Catra’s surprise, Glimmer leaves with her instead of staying with her father.

“Now we are leaving?” Catra asks somewhat lost.

“Yes! He has things to say to her alone.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Imagine you want to talk to Adora, even if its about little nothings, you wouldn’t want people to listen, would you?”

Catra simply nods. “So what now?”

“Now I need cakes! Lots of them. Will you stay with me a bit longer? Bow and Adora should join us soon.”

Catra nods again and follows Sparkles, ready to raid the kitchen, reminded that they have not yet eaten dinner. Well, maybe that is a good opportunity to try having a whole meal out of cakes tonight. At least Sparkles seems to think so. She then understands that sometime during the evening, Glimmer composure will crumble and she will cry her eyes out, and a part of Catra simply wants to be there for her when it happens, like Glimmer had been there for her when Catra needed it.


	5. D-3 : Dressing at random

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Various approaches at choosing what to wear for an important party.

Catra looks good in pants. That is an universal truth for Adora but somehow she has this little feeling that she would look good in anything, and only wearing pants is a waste. ‘Stars, she even looks good naked!’ Adora’s own thoughts make her blush slightly while Glimmer clears her throat and looks at her with a little frown. Adora might have _thought_ a little too loud. She is pacing back and forth between the large quantity of clothes that she already had the tailor brought out, unable to find what she wants, rummaging among them again for the fifth time like she will suddenly discover something new.

Adora and Glimmer are currently visiting Bright Moon’s tailor to pick out their outfits for the big party three days later. The small woman owning the shop doesn’t seem to mind but also doesn’t show any sign of wanting to interfere between them for now.

“How did you get Catra to accept to let you choose?” Glimmer finally asks.

Adora grins smugly. “That was easy. I didn’t expect the hard part to be to actually choose. She said something like _it doesn’t matter, nobody will care anyway_.” Adora says imitating Catra’s voice. “So I was like _I certainly will!_ and she got all defensive _then why don’t you decide alone?_ then I said _deal_ and she couldn’t take it back!”

“Uh uh. That’s not what Catra told me. Strangely her version seems more realistic to me.” Glimmer smirks.

Adora nervously gulps. “What did she told you?”

“Something about you fussing so much over it that she had to accept, to make you calm down?”

“Oh no! That’s absolutely not what happened.”

“You asking what she will wear every morning and evening?”

“That… might be true.”

“You coming back late three times with enough fabric samples to make a whole dress?”

“Hu…” Adora is slowly understanding that her girlfriend is opening to Glimmer way more than Catra wants to admit, or even realises.

“And getting measurements twice even though the tailor here has them already?”

Adora sighs.

“Can you at least make up your mind between a suit and a dress?”

“But what if she finds it too weird if I suddenly asks her to wear a dress?”

“She sure would look rather nice in a dress.” The tailor’s impromptu interruption startles Adora.

“Uh?” is the only thing she manages to answer while she quizzically looks at the small older woman.

“With her forms and legs, can’t go wrong with dresses. Of course with people with tails, you want to choose carefully. Floaty dresses are a no go for an important event if she’s not used to them.” She shoves one of the clothes’ rack in the back. “With her personality and behaviour you probably want to avoid any short or risky ones either. She moves around too much.” She pushes another. “Then with fur you should avoid those kinds of fabric.” She sends another rack rolling in a corner.

“Why didn’t you say anything sooner?!” Adora is a little lost.

“I didn’t know it was for Kitty.” The tailor begins, ignoring Adora and Glimmer suddenly all stiff. “I kinda scared her last time she visited. She deserved it but I still regret it, that’s bad for business. But that doesn’t solve the main question if I followed right. And you need to choose before noon for me to have enough time to adjust it!” She grins widely.

“Right. But…” Adora winces. “please don’t call her that in front of her!?”

The woman laughs warmly. “Sorry, the old man from the figurines’ shop started, and it kinda spread around the town’s artisans. You know how we like to often get together to drink, and it stuck, I don’t think we can stop now. And she tried to make us, believe me!” She laughs again.

Adora smiles nervously. She isn’t sure exactly what Catra _tried_ but if Catra really wanted to, she could silence them, that’s certain. The fact that she hasn’t makes Adora feel a little proud but also worried. ‘Will Catra be okay around these people?’ Adora often asks herself that these days.

“So you want to see her in a dress?” Glimmer focuses on the main task again.

“I don’t know, I don’t mind the pants, not one bit, either!”

“Urgh…” Glimmer shrugs. “You know you waited until today to accept to come with me, so now you have no other choice but to decide! It’s not like Catra would not like anything _you_ choose anyway...”

“You think so?” Adora shyly replies.

“I know so! How come you are so not confident about it when you usually are overconfident with the most ridiculous things!” Glimmer teases as she is losing patience. “Just decides for one dress _and_ one suit for now!” She tries her best to stay calm but unlike Adora, she has been set already for quite some time and it’s beginning to show in her behaviour.

“Hey, it’s a first for me! Last time you choose for me. And unlike you I don’t have a predefined set of colours, and I need two!”

“Like you have even chosen one yet?” Glimmer teases again.

“Call me old fashioned,” The tailor interrupts again. “but I think a cute girl in a dress is a must for that kind of party, and if she has never wore one before, you definitely should use the opportunity!”

“I’m not sure she wants to look _cute_ , though…”

“Like a girl not wanting to be cute for her girlfriend could even exist…” The woman mumbles in a whisper.

“She agreed to let you choose, try something _you_ want! If she really really doesn’t like it, which sounds absolutely improbable to me anyway, you can always choose something else next time!” Glimmer almost whines.

“Fine.” Adora finally agrees reluctantly. “Let’s get her in a dress then, even if she punches me for it!”

But even after having that set, there is still a lot to choose. Style, colours, patterns. Thankfully her own outfit takes way less time to decide. Though, there is one gold and white dress that she wants to wear one day, but not yet. Right now she wants one to complement the one she chose for Catra. With a simple design that won’t attract too much attention on them. Since becoming She-Ra, she has learnt to appreciate people looking at her but she knows Catra doesn’t share that, at least not yet.

Adora also wants the outfits to unmistakably tell people ‘I’m with her, she’s with me, don’t bother her’. She isn’t used to be that kind of selfish, but it’s about Catra, and Glimmer has been quite persuasive. The one coming to the party is Adora, not She-Ra, she doesn’t have to be everyone hero there, only Catra’s girlfriend. Of course there will be some applause and cheers at the mighty princess saving the world as usual, but that’s not going to be the focus of the evening.

\-----

“Why are you following me?” Bow asks suddenly.

“I don’t know, I’m bored?” Catra simply answers.

“Yeah. Right. Could you at least walk next to me instead of behind? That makes me feel… I have no idea how that makes me feel! It’s weird. A bad kind of weird!” Bow stops, forcing Catra to catch up if she doesn’t want to have to justify stopping too.

But what’s _weird_ for Catra is walking beside someone. She manages it fine when she has something to talk about or with Adora but otherwise she still feels out of place, side by side in Bright Moon’s streets. She spent most of her life being second, hiding in the shadow of someone else, and when she decided to take charge, to rise to that first place, she ruined everything. And now that everything is over, even simply walking down the road, with people glancing at her like she doesn’t deserve to be there, is reminding her of it.

“How is your job going?” Bow asks when Catra reaches him.

“Sparkles let me off the hook since she was taking the morning off herself, so please don’t talk about work!”

There is a little awkward silence and Catra is already thinking of letting herself fall slightly behind when Bow speaks again. “I heard Adora is choosing what you will be wearing at the party?”

“Why do you know about that?!”

“Glimmer went out with her early, to the tailor’s shop, and she was complaining about how long it might take.”

“I’m more worried about the result… it’s Adora, I…” Catra’s voice suddenly turns into a whisper. “I love her, but…” Then she continues loud again. “But what if she asks me to wear something super strange?”

“That’s a possibility but I’m sure she will choose something she honestly thinks that suits you. And Glimmer won’t let her pick anything too horrible.”

“Forgive me if I don’t trust Sparkles’ fashion sense! I won’t wear a pink and purple princess outfit!”

“You know, she did choose the dress Adora was wearing last Princess Prom.” Bow doesn’t have to explain why he thinks that should be relevant as Catra loudly gulps at the memory before she can deny any effect Adora wearing that red dress might have had on her.

“Okay, point taken.” She admits. “What will _you_ be wearing?”

“Nothing really special, just more classy?”

“Isn’t that boring?”

“Not if you take it as a game. You change little things, that most people won’t even notice, but people close to you will. Glimmer has to do it too, she must represent Bright Moon after all.” Bow let a sigh escape. “And she will make me have a hard time if I don’t notice the little things she changes just for me!”

Catra laughs softly. “I’m sure she will!”

Bow suddenly brightens like he just remembered something. “Are you ready for tomorrow’s test flight? I’m so jealous that I can’t come!”

“I have no idea what to expect with Entrapta. I don’t even know why she asked me…”

Their conversation continues lightly until they arrive in the middle of the town. Glimmer and Adora join them and the Best Friend Squad decide to go for a quick lunch together before it’s time to get to work, again. Catra and Glimmer go back to the castle’s meeting room, once more transformed into a big messy paperwork station. Bow and Adora head for the library, where Bow’s dads will try to convince him to wear all kind of formal suits for the party, while Adora has a lot of ancient First One’s texts to translate.

‘A normal day in Bright Moon.’ Catra wonders how the stars she ended up here and why she feels like it’s _normal_ in the first place… She doesn’t want to acknowledge it but she still feels that way.

\-----

_beep beep_

Catra grabs her trackpad and steps outside the meeting room to answer the call.

“Hi, wildcat. It’s been a while.” Scorpia greets and waves, while two little kids are trying to climb up her shoulders.

“Oh, hey, hi Scorpia! Don’t get all dramatic like the other princesses, please, it’s not even been five days!”

Scorpia grabs the kids by the shirts with her pincers, puts them down on the floor and shush them softly before resuming the conversation. “Yeah, but a lot happened, and last time didn’t really end well…”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t expect you to cry that much, I hope-”

“Stop right there, we are not talking about it ever again! Forget it even happened!”

“Okay okay. Not a word.”

“You seem to be doing well with the kids?”

“Yeah, but like, there are so many of them-” Scorpia stops herself, winces but doesn’t let Catra time to dwell on the reasons why there are so many kids without parents to take care of. “Anyway, for the party…”

“What?”

“What should I wear?!” Scorpia asks slightly distraught.

“What?!” Catra repeats, stunned.

“I have no idea what to wear for the party!”

“And you ask me? How should I know?!”

“Since you helped me last time…” Scorpia replies with a little blush on her cheeks, tapping her pincers together.

“I didn’t _help_ you. I only wanted you to look stunning to make them all feel stupid and jealous.”

“But I still looked great, right? I think.”

“Then why don’t you wear that black dress again?”

“Should I?”

“How would I know. Who are you dressing up for anyway?” Catra grins, wondering if her friend will answer honestly.

“No one! No one, just dressing up for the party.” Scorpia blushes significantly.

“Do you think that other _no one_ wants _me_ to choose? If you want advice, fine, yes, you look perfect in that dress, but you need to decide yourself.”

“But maybe she will think I’m boring if I only wear that same dress, or maybe it will remind her of last times’ events, I mean, that dress is cursed if you think about it, I’ve never finished a party properly with it!”

“How many parties are we talking about here?”

“Two?”

“Yeah… definitely cursed!” Catra laughs warmly. “Don’t worry, I’m sure Perfuma will love whatever you wear!”

“I didn’t say anything about-”

“You should call her already, I’m certain she will gladly choose with you this time!” Catra suddenly looks away and shyly adds in a low voice “Then if everything goes well, maybe next time I’ll be able to help you choose, and you’ll help me too.”

“Eh? What did you-”

“Nothing, I need to go back to work now, see you in three days!”

_beep_

\-----

_beep beep_

Perfuma reaches for her trackpad and takes the call.

“Hi Perfuma, again, I know we just parted a moment ago...” Scorpia appears on the screen visibly concerned.

“Hi Scorpia, did I forget something?”

“Oh? Oh, no, no, I only wanted to ask… something.”

“Of course? What’s wrong?” Perfuma can’t ignore the worried look on her friend’s face.

“Nothing’s wrong, but… about clothes…”

“Did I mess up the kids’ sizes?”

“No, no! Those are perfect! I’m talking about… Stars, why is it so difficult…”

“Scorpia? You know how it goes. You can do it. You can do anything.”

“You are right. _I_ can do it.” Scorpia breathes deeply. “Is it okay if I ask you to choose what I’ll wear at the party?”

“No. And you know I’m saying that as your friend, for your own good.”

“I thought so.”

“You need to stop always letting other people direct your life, even for details like this! You are strong, you can decide things on your own. You know I’m always here if you need advice but I’m not taking any decision for you.”

“But I don’t have much experience or fashion sense,” Scorpia rubs her neck with her pincer. “and I haven’t known you for that long either. How can I really know if you will like what I choose?”

“You have to choose something that _you_ like- Wait wait wait, you want to wear something _I_ like?!”

Scorpia is now way more red than concerned after blurting out something she didn’t mean to. “Please forget that! I didn’t say anything!”

“No way! We are talking about it! I’m coming back!” Perfuma’s voice sounds determined and not one bit hesitant nor bothered.

_beep_

“Aunty Scorpia, what’s wrong?” One of the kids asks, seeing the big woman very agitated.

“Perfuma is coming back! She’ll be here in less than half an hour! What should I do?!”

“Isn’t it good? Everyone likes her a lot. Don’t you too?”

Scorpia looks at them like they just said something both completely stupid and purely true. “I do?” She asks aloud but to herself. “Oh. I do. I do!”

The next half hour seems to last very much longer to Scorpia. The kids are trying to calm her down while she tries to check that everything is in order, and tidy, and proper, and… as if Perfuma wasn’t just here an hour ago, and the day before, and more than half the time since this whole project began.

\-----

“Please, can I simply wear something, I don’t know, _normal_?” Bow argues for the third time.

“That’s very much normal! Even if you two are already… you can’t announce your engagement without being properly dressed for the occasion!” George answers.

“George, you know it’s very much political. It’s only a party!” Lance intercedes in Bow’s favour. 

“It will still be an official announcement for them, he needs to look perfect!”

Suddenly a growl from the other side of the library interrupts them. Lance guesses it’s about time to bring Adora some more tea and cookies since her mood doesn’t seem to be on top right now, and the other two begin to argue again, lowering their voices a little.

“Please excuse us for the ruckus.” Lance offers with his food and drink when he arrives near Adora.

“Oh, no, no, it’s no trouble at all! I knew it would be noisy today!” Adora instantly answers, looking apologetic herself when she realises that her earlier grunt was incorrectly interpreted.

“What is bothering you then?”

“There is so few about She-Ra! That would have helped so much if I could have learnt about her and Mara and the sword. I thought that I was only unlucky and we had no time before to properly research them, but no, there is simply almost nothing.”

“That is often what happens when one side loses. The victors tend to impose their own truth in the books. If the First Ones opposing Mara chose to make her disappear from history, either by shame or spite, we won’t find much a thousand years later.”

“That would have been so helpful if I had her diary or something…” Adora sighs.

“Somehow we are lucky that history didn’t turn She-Ra into an evil monster after being on the losing side.”

“With that look? I don’t think anyone other than the Horde would have bought it!” Adora jokes.

Lance laughs briefly with her. He knows the basics about how kids in the Horde have been made to believe since very young that the princesses were evil, but it's still difficult to imagine. He had a time when he thought the princesses were trouble, of course, but nothing close to evil in mind.

“But speaking about that, even She-Ra’s clothes are a mystery. Near the end, I got a glimpse of Mara’s She-Ra, and her outfit was slightly different than mine, even the first one that should have been copied from hers.”

“Yes, studying the way people dresses is always fascinating and can tell us a lot about an ancient civilisation. Beliefs, wealth, social hierarchy, and sometimes we discover details about important persons, and it can lead to a lot of knowledge about the level of their technology and… I’m sorry, you were only speaking about She-Ra and here I am rambling about all that.”

“When I think about how I would have find that outfit absolutely ridiculous when I was younger in the Horde, I wonder what else can be distorted like that, what I can do to make sure it doesn’t happen again?”

“All we can do is try our best to represent the events of our time as fairly as possible. But…”

Adora is suddenly startled by Lance’s silence and the serious look on his face. She hesitates a moment to ask him to carry on but somehow it seems inconsiderate and she simply waits.

“But usually, the simpler version of the story is the one to survive.” George completes instead of his husband.

Adora looks at him quizzically, when Bow arrives too, finally dressed almost _normally_ and apparently having succeeded at convincing his dad to have his abs showing.

“She-Ra led the rebellion against the Evil Horde. She vanquished its commander, then its leader. Happy ending.” George resumes with a slightly ironic tone.

“I see. So Catra… I don’t suppose we can not talk about the part she played in the Horde?”

“Do you want us to lie?”

“No, no! I’m sorry, that was stupid...”

“Anyway, that’s our problem!” Lance starts again after regaining his smile. “We’ll do our best to be fair when we write about her, and we know a lot of people will do the same. She did a lot to save us all! You are young and unless you want to start writing a book, you don’t have to worry about it, and for now, focus on the incoming party!”

\-----

_beep beep_

“Hi! I need you to-” Entrapta starts cheerfully as always.

“Entrapta, now is not a good time.” Perfuma’s reply is a little curt and annoyed.

“But you answered, and I really could-”

“I’m kind of busy right now!”

“Hi Entrapta!” Scorpia’s voice and head appear next to Perfuma and interrupt the conversation.

“Hey Scorpia. I’m… sorry.” Entrapta’s mood drops.

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled.” Perfuma takes a deep breath and looks back softly at Entrapta through the screen. “You just interrupted an important conversation, but you couldn’t know, and I still answered your call... forget it. What can I do for you?”

Entrapta hesitates for a moment, her eyes darting back and forth between the screen and away, before gathering back her courage. “Should I dress up for the party?”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to come naked?”

“Are you… are you making fun of me?” Entrapta replies timidly, still very hesitant.

“Just a little, payback for interrupting. Is that much okay?” Perfuma is back to her very tender and smiling self.

“I guess so.” Entrapta smiles a little too.

“For the party, you should definitely dress up! Why not?”

“I don’t understand why people try so much to look different.”

“That depend on the people. For some it’s only an occasion to look nicer, for others they want to please someone, or be more attractive to charm someone else, sometime it’s simply to wear clothes you don’t have a chance to wear otherwise.” Perfuma pauses a second to observe the reaction of the other princess who doesn’t seem to really connect with any of these goals. “You don’t have to do it just because everyone else does.”

“I feel like I should, like I want to try once at least.” Entrapta looks to the side, faintly blushing.

“Do you have that kind of clothes?”

“Yes, I have tons of them, actually, I made a lot, but I don’t know… how, why, when to wear them… I don’t have enough data to be sure I won’t do something stupid. I don’t mind trials and errors with science, but with people...”

“Scorpia, you still have your skiff ready?” Perfuma suddenly faces Scorpia, beaming.

“Yeah, but what about our conversation? What happened to not taking decision for me?” Scorpia asks, uneasy.

“We’ll talk on the way. This is a girl’s emergency!!! Entrapta, we’ll be there as soon as possible!”

“You are coming here?!”

“Yes! If it’s okay with you of course?”

“Sure!”

_beep_


	6. D-3 : Dresses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I think you’ve got something fairly wrong, Catra.” Adora answers, an honest yet smug smile on her face. “I always thought you were cute and adorable, since the moment I found you!"

_The girl who saved me and the universe_

_I met her when I was maybe four and she was a little more than two. I was barely able to take care of myself when I found her in a little basket in one of the other barracks for the youngest kids in the Fright Zone. She was a very cute little kitten and I simply decided that we had to become friend._

_I remember running to Shadow Weaver and pestering her until I could take that girl back with me to the dorm where I was living. Shadow Weaver did finally yield, probably more to calm my antics rather than because of my flawless arguments._

_I had to spend the whole next day doing paperwork to make it happened. I’m sure I didn’t even question why, it just had to be done. In hindsight, that was certainly Shadow Weaver last attempt at making me give up. I reckon I was a little spoiled brat back then, but since I was usually well behaved and already trying to always do my best, she let me get away with it. And those large sheets of paper with big letters and empty spaces were more than probably made for little me anyway. As ahead as I was for my age, my writing certainly wasn’t good enough to fill out proper forms!_

_From the kids taken to the Fright Zone, many were too young to remember their names, or even have one. She was one of them so one of the first thing I had to fill in was a new name. ‘Catra Applesauce Meowmeow’. Don’t laugh! I was pretty proud of it at the time! I realised later that even the way I came up with her first name was kind of dumb, I simply took my name and since she was a kitten, mixed a ‘Cat’ with it. She would one day call me an idiot for it, but at least that way we would always be close._

_I got my first scar on the nose when I suddenly hugged her, chanting her new name and dancing around, and she hissed, bit me and backed away in a corner. I was a little too dense to notice that she was scared and already had a sense of personal space that I did not. I don’t remember exactly why I didn’t care about her biting me but I resumed writing, her description, what dorm and bed number she was from and where I wanted her to move in, the name of the captains in charge. I know, I know, I probably didn’t write a single name correctly._

_And suddenly, from the corner she had fled to, I saw two brilliant heterochromatic eyes looking at me. I’ll never forget them, staring at me like my hug had promised her something she didn’t know: affection. After half a day of filling out documents in the silent room, with only me at a table with my paper sheets, she began to relax and came to sit next to me, curious at what I was so seriously doing._

_It didn’t take long for us to become inseparable and I was too young to notice how much Shadow Weaver hated that fact. She wanted me to become perfect, and her idea of perfection couldn’t tolerate my attention being taken away by Catra._

_I got my first scar on the hand almost a year later. Shadow Weaver was treating her like a pet, and by similarity Catra thought I was doing the same. Honestly I didn’t grasp the difference then. I wanted a friend, and she was so fluffy I had to touch her, nothing else mattered to me. But it mattered to Catra and her claws were beginning to be sharp. ~~~~~~_

“Gyaaaa!!!” Adora jumps when suddenly two hands grab her shoulders from behind. She almost falls from her chair and her pen flies away. “Catra!!! Don’t scare me like that!”

“What? I called you twice already.” Catra answers honestly. “What were you doing that had you so focused you didn’t hear me?”

“Nothing! Nothing important!” Adora tries to hide the sheets of paper in front of her but she has already written that first page a number of times, each with slight differences, and she can’t hide them all under her arms. Catra grins and snatches one of them and Adora tenses up as the feline girl begins to read. She didn’t make the effort of writing this only to hide it but having Catra read her own words suddenly makes her very anxious.

Catra’s grin fall, not helping Adora feel any relief, but Catra continues to read with her eyes glued on the paper. “You are writing about me?!” She exclaims only when she arrives at the bottom of the page.

“Mmhmm.” Adora nods. “I know it was just a dumb idea…”

“No! I mean, yes, maybe, I mean… you suddenly want to write? And the first thing you do is write about me?”

“Because of something that Lance said earlier. And it’s been bugging me all afternoon. If _I_ don’t write about you, then when I’m gone, there will be nobody left that knows.”

“Adora, please, don’t talk about leaving-” Catra’s horrified look makes Adora stand up and interrupt.

“No no no! I’m talking about the far future, when we are no longer here… I would have given so much only to be able to read a book about Mara’s life! I want to leave something behind so people don’t get wrong ideas about you.”

“Aren’t we too young to think about that? I don’t really care what future people will believe. And _you_ writing?”

“I know, it was stupid-”

“You actually want to do this? Not only because you feel responsible or whatever?”

“Yes. Is it that weird?”

“This will need some getting used to!” Catra laughs. “But why not. If that makes you happy. Just don’t spend too much of our time together on it please?”

“Say the one coming home late!” Adora teases back but Catra’s only response is looking away worriedly. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Not really.”

“Catra.”

“I messed up. And we had to work late to fix it.”

“It’s okay, it happens to everyone.”

“It’s not that. I made a stupid mistake because I wasn’t focused.”

“What’s bothering you? You want to talk about it?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Catra?” Both of them know very well that their _it’s nothing_ means _I don’t want to talk about it_ , but they also know how much they are usually wrong and _should_ talk about it.

“Okay, it’s not _nothing_ , but I’m sure it’s not the kind of _bothering_ that you think, so drop that serious anxious look off your face, idiot!” Catra giggles and brightens, realising that making a big deal out of it only makes Adora worry, nightmares or panic attacks level of worry, when really it isn’t.

And Adora instantly relaxes at the happy sounds and Catra’s honest smile. She still wants to worry but she just can’t when Catra is acting cute like that, and she knows her girlfriend only let herself act that way when there’s nothing too heavy weighing on her mind.

Catra takes a deep breath. She knows she needs to open up and talk but it’s not easy, even when it’s not about unhappy thoughts. “At lunch, you said you were thinking about me all morning because of all the _finding an outfit for me_ thing. And it stayed in my head. I was thinking about you too since you were doing it for me. Before I knew it, I wasn’t listening to Sparkles and I randomly answered something wrong. We found out way later. I couldn’t stop thinking about you trying all kind of dresses, or without, and I know we are very busy, and I love simply cuddling with you in the morning and evening, and sleeping in the same bed is absolutely perfect, but since the first two nights you have never asked, and, you know, it’s been five days since last time…”

“Catra?” Adora smirks widely. “Are you trying to ask me for sex? You messed up because you miss my body thaaaaat much?”

Catra hides her face behind her hands while a red blush spreads all the way to the tip of her ears. “It’s so unfair! Why are you confident but not dense only in those moments!”

“Because you are so cute like that!” Adora answers honestly and loops her arms around her girlfriend’s back. “Usually you are too blunt and confident yourself. I remember you teasing Glimmer while naked after our first... night, without even blushing!”

“I’m not cute! And that was easy. The look on her face was priceless!”

“Last time you threw me down on the bed without even asking and you know I liked it. The contrast with how you are acting now is adorable!”

“Please don’t say that.” Catra’s voice is trembling and she buries her face against Adora’s neck.

“Why are you so against being cute?” Adora asks, dropping the teasing tone she had before.

Catra doesn’t want to answer. She should, she knows it, but… except it’s Adora, and for her she can do anything. She breathes deeply. “I’m scared.” She whispers.

“Scared? Of being cute?”

“I know I had to change after you saved me. I needed to soften, I needed to care, and I’m happy I did. But… is it all I am now? Soft? When you call me _cute_ or _adorable_ I’m afraid that this is all I have become now, that I can’t be strong or cool anymore, and that you only like those new things about me.”

“I think you’ve got something fairly wrong, Catra.” Adora answers, an honest yet smug smile on her face. “I always thought you were cute and adorable, since the moment I found you, I never stopped!” Adora knows it’s not exactly accurate. There was a time after the portal when she could only see Catra as rage and anger. But then Catra apologized. And just like that, the little fire of hope that Catra was more than fury and wrath was lit again.

Catra can’t hide her surprise. She leans back a little to be able to see Adora’s face and their eyes found each others easily. They stay a moment in silence, blue and yellow eyes staring into grey blue ones. The smugness disappears from Adora’s smile and only love remains.

“Of course I understood early that you didn’t like that, so I mostly disguised it as messing with you… but even when we were fighting, even when I also think you are cool and stunning, and strong and perfect, or mischievous, and teasing and snarky, there has always been a part of me screaming inside how cute you are.”

Catra sighs and relax a little. “Remember when I asked you to say I’m cute until I get used to it? I thought I would, like I’m getting used to this room or working with Sparkles, but I was wrong. It doesn’t become trivial or normal, because the more you say it, the more it means to me, the more I believe you.”

“Then please let me say it, because it’s always true for me, and it doesn’t mean that you can’t be anything else. I love every side of you.”

Catra blushes and buries her head in the crook of Adora’s neck once more. She lets a disapproving growl out but without any kind of strength that would convince Adora she isn’t happy. After a moment to calm down, she circles her arms and tail around Adora’s waist, and pull the princess close as tightly as she can. “I love you too, idiot.” She whispers.

“Also…” Adora resumes, using the opportunity that Catra is acting soft. “there’s a part of me that wants to keep that cute side of yours all to myself, but there’s also a part of me that wants to show it to everyone. I might have messed up too.”

“What are you talking about?”

Adora wiggles their way to the wardrobe and briefly let go of her embrace to open it. Catra’s head leaves Adora’s neck, very much curious, and her expression is soon replaced by astonishment when her eyes meet the pair of dresses hanging in there.

“You want me to wear that?”

“Yes.” Adora prepares herself to be punched, scratched, or yelled at.

“Okay, I can’t say I’m thrilled, or happy, or… I didn’t expect… At least it’s beautiful. I was kinda worried, I admit... You think that will suit me?”

“Definitely. Catra, really. Yes, you will look cute in it but also cool and dashing, and stunning and perfect?” Adora’s smile turns a little shy as she knows she says too much and she blushes.

“Shut up you dummy.” Catra smiles as she touches the fabric. Whatever she thinks about wearing it, the material is soft, even the contact with her fur feels nice, it looks good and is skilfully sewed together.

“I won’t force you, and after what you told me I’m even less sure it was a good idea, so don’t hold back. If you don’t want to wear it, just say so.”

“I thought you were going to choose something more in line of what I wore last Princess Prom. I remember you drooling when you saw me.” Catra’s sweet teasing voice makes Adora’s heart melt.

“Oh, I absolutely want to see you wearing that suit again! But also that dress, and a ton of other clothes actually. I almost made a list this morning! As long as you let me pick again.”

“Ah. So you intend to choose for me again and again?”

“Sounds pretty selfish, when you word it like that.” Adora looks away in shame.

“Spoiled, like little Adora in the first page you wrote! And I liked that Adora too.” Catra kisses her princess and looks at her with wanting eyes. “Then all that’s left is for you to convince me that I’m _cute_ enough for that dress.” Catra eyes the bed beside them.

Adora gulps at Catra not being even remotely subtle about it this time but the princess is certainly not going to back down from that kind of challenge. Catra being able to joke about her own cuteness is warming her heart while the lips pressing against her own are heating up everything else.


	7. D-2 : Stranded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Entrapta, Hordak, Lonnie and Catra are stranded inside a salvaged Horde starship, after crashing during its first test flight, it's an occasion to talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Catra and Lonnie talks! Because why not. And Lonnie impresses Catra once again... because Catra really didn't give her enough credit back then!

Catra arrives to Dryl in the middle of the morning. She was here yesterday early too to say hello to Entrapta, after Scorpia had bugged her a few times to ‘at least go see how she’s doing from time to time’ and it was particularly awkward, as expected. She happened to be off work since Sparkles was out shopping with Adora and the queen doesn’t like having her friends working when she’s not. Catra is sure that it’s only so they won’t have any leverage against her. Sparkles is fair, but not that much.

But after a difficult conversation with the nerd princess, that Catra’s butt still remembers since it involved some falling down on it, said princess suddenly asked her to come for today’s test flight. Apparently one of the ships that Entrapta managed to take control over is down here on the planet and ready to fly, or at least attempt to.

At the castle entrance, Catra is welcomed by Wrong Hordak, who only briefly greets her and gives her directions to where the others and the ship are waiting. It isn’t far and even if the Horde Spire in the middle of the place is already half dismantled, it’s still an easy-to-spot landmark.

As she approaches, Catra soon notices that instead of one, there are three ships around the Spire. Darla is one of them and her heart oddly aches when she sees the bad shape it is in. It seems that in her repair effort, Entrapta doesn’t hesitate to take whole panels off the hull. Catra winces and shrugs as her ears flatten. She didn’t expect to be attached to it yet she can’t ignore that Darla saved her life either.

The other two ships are Horde _light cruisers_. Like many things they take from Prime’s Horde, they have to pick names themselves. Without the hive mind, no clone remember most things real names nor how they work. They had all that knowledge accessible so nobody really committed any to their own memories and Catra knows how frightening it is to even try to force the flashes she has from her little time chipped out, therefore she understands them not willing to dig too deep.

One ship seems intact, while the other has been disassembled without restraint to be used as spare parts for it and Darla, same as the spire if the traces on the ground are any indication. The ship is a little bigger than Darla, probably for the same crew size, being able to carry a small team while a single person is still enough to pilot it.

“Catra? What are you doing here?” Lonnie calls when Catra approaches.

“Oh, I asked her to come!” Entrapta enthusiastically answers.

“Yeah, well, I don’t know why either.” Catra replies to Lonnie. They both wait a moment for the princess to explain. Silence.

“Entrapta, why am I here?” Catra asks after a deep breath to keep her calm.

“I wanted one more person who knows space, just in case! And the others weren’t available. Hordak memories about space aren’t… reliable.”

“Hordak is here too?!” Catra recoils as her tail bushes. “And you are fine with that?” She asks Lonnie, perplexed.

“Look, from my point of view, half a year ago you were both the same kind, so spare me your little crisis and let’s get this thing flying!” Lonnie answers, apparently eager.

“Hi, Catra.” Hordak appears at the top of the access ramp, startling Catra but the thing she notices first is his hair, dyed dark blue again.

“Everything’s ready?” Entrapta asks him with a wide smile.

“Yes.” Entrapta beams at the word and drags Lonnie inside.

“Can I believe we can work together?” Catra speaks hesitantly. It’s her last chance to walk away from the whole thing, probably, but letting Entrapta and Lonnie alone with Hordak doesn’t suit her either.

“To put it in your words, I do not like you. And you know why, so don’t make the same mistake again and I’ll behave.”

Before Catra can answer, Entrapta reappears and pulls both of them inside with strands of her hair. The sound of the door closing and the ramp being retracted makes her shiver. But at the same time, the look on Hordak’s face as they are being dragged along the corridor is so idiotic that she manages to calm down. It reminds her more of Wrong Hordak than of the leader of the Etherian Horde.

The bridge of the ship is fairly similar to Darla’s, empty with a single chair and a wide transparent pane, except more white and immaculate. Catra suddenly notices Lonnie placing silly stickers on the controls while looking at the large stack of documents she has been holding all this time.

“What the…? What are you doing?”

“Urgh. Prime and his stupid ideas! The ship is made to be controlled while connected to his mind, so nothing is labelled nor user-friendly. With Entrapta we decided it was better to _customise_ all that. From what she said, your other ship was a piece of cake to operate in comparison.”

“Okay!” Entrapta announces, talking both to them and to her voice recorder. “We are nearly ready to take off. We have control over most command nodes, only channel twelve and fifteen remains locked but after careful observation, they shouldn’t cause any problem for today’s test.”

“Entrapta.” Hordak holds out a paper to the princess.

“What’s that?” Catra asks, more nervous than ever.

“The last safety checklist. I usually... don’t care... when it’s for science! But I’m trying to, so we wrote that.” Entrapta answers monotonously like she has rehearsed those lines.

“And you entrusted it to Hordak?”

“Apparently, I’m more... _concerned_ about my own safety than science.” Hordak grins. As uncomfortable as she feels, Catra has to admit that’s probably a good point. Even with her list, Entrapta seems to struggle between excitement, curiosity and only a little bit of safety concern. Lonnie takes a last look at her papers and sits down in the pilot chair.

“Can you really fly that?” Catra asks, she is pretty convinced by now that she is questioning everything because people talking is more reassuring than silence. Not that she would tell anyone though.

“Entrapta said it wasn’t much more difficult than driving a tank, only with one more degree of freedom.” She laughs. “But I don’t buy it! Thankfully, today we just needs to move a little to verify that everything works as we think it does. Well, as they think. Don’t worry, I’ve been studying this whole mess since we learnt about those ships four days ago!”

“Everything is checked, try to go straight up a little!”

Lonnie activates a few controls and the ship slowly lift off but the whole crew can feel their weight strongly accentuated by the upward acceleration.

“That’s weird.” Entrapta ponders while checking her trackpad hastily. “Maybe since the ship is made for clones and bots in space, they didn’t care much about that?” She runs a few other calculations. “I don’t know. Try going forward.”

“Wait, no-” But Hordak is too late and Lonnie has already input the command. The four of them are thrown backward violently when the ship gains speed. It doesn’t seem like much from a space point of view, even to a planetary scale, but people’s bodies aren’t made to withstand that kind of force unhindered. Catra barely has the reflex to crouch down and jabs her claws into the floor panel to not be sent flying before she passes out.

\-----

When Catra comes to, the ship isn’t moving anymore and she doesn’t hear its engine either. She can’t see anything through the glass even after blinking a few times to be sure her eyes are really open but the bridge’s lights are still on and she takes a deep breath to calm down. A very cold chill runs through her body. Her claws hurt but they seem intact, unlike the floor she punctured. She hears a little groan coming from the chair beside her.

“Lonnie, you alive?”

“I think so…”

Catra hastily turns her head around to see Entrapta laying on the floor still unconscious with a very worried looking Hordak leaning above her. Catra freezes for a moment. She can’t believe he can make an expression like that. Another chill runs through her.

“Don’t touch her!” Lonnie’s loud and commanding voice startles them. Only then does Catra notice the blood on Entrapta’s hair.

“I’m not going to hurt-” Hordak answers defensively but can’t finish his sentence.

“Do you have any medical experience?” Lonnie asks, still commanding as she stands up, steadying herself, a hand on the top of the chair.

“No, I don-”

“Then don’t move her! If she hit her head or her neck… And you?” She turns to face Catra.

“I don’t either.” At her answer, Lonnie shakes her head to clear her mind and walks to Entrapta.

“I thought every Force Captain had first aid classes, it’s covered in the orientation.” Hordak steps back to let room for Lonnie beside Entrapta.

“I skipped that.” Catra sighs.

“No wonder we lost.” Hordak retorts sarcastically.

“Yeah, right, like you have any useful skill-”

“Can both of you just shut up?” Lonnie shouts loud enough to make them. “Try finding out where we are while I take care of Entrapta.”

Catra shivers at a little chill once more but this time she can feel that it’s caused by real cold, not her panicking mind. She follows where it comes from and find a hatch cracked half open and a few wall panels bent and dislocated. She looks outside. Nothing but white as far as she can see, which is not much at all. Snow. She shortly steps outside to look in every direction but the sight is the same. Once back inside, she manages to close the opening and then inspects the rest of the corridors and rooms quickly before coming back to the bridge.

“There is snow outside.” Catra says, rubbing the cold out of her arms. She barely stood two minutes outside but because of the ice cold wind and the snow falling, she is completely frozen.

“That much we know.” Lonnie points at the wide glass pane that only now Catra understand is covered by snow.

“I mean there is nothing else I could see!” 

“We are not far from our planned course, at least.” Hordak is typing on the ship’s controls.

“Which is? Entrapta didn’t give me any details…”

“The plan was to fly to the land of Snows and back. If it worked properly, we would have offered to give a ride to people going to the party at princess Frosta’s Ice Palace tomorrow.”

“Lucky for them we tried first!” Catra retorts.

“Most systems are down. Including communication.” Hordak continues his analysis.

“Of course they are.”

“And Entrapta crashed on her trackpad.” Lonnie adds while holding out the broken tool.

“Of course she did!” Catra whines again as she flops down on the floor, her back against a wall.

“The nearest inhabited place is the Ice Palace. Three to four hours from here, on foot.”

“Of course we-”

“Catra! Shut up!” Lonnie interrupts.

“Don’t tell me to shut up! I hate the cold, I hate water, I hate Hordak, and I’m surrounded by all three!” Catra begins to lose it when Lonnie kneels in front of her and grabs her shoulders firmly.

“Catra, please, there is only three of us conscious right now, and we can’t afford you to panic. So look at me, breathe and calm down.” She keeps her eyes on Catra, soft, at least she tries, until the feline girl manages to relax a little. “Good. Now I need to go check on Entrapta again, so stay right here and focus on breathing and warming up.”

Catra tries. She can’t let herself be a burden right now. She glances at Entrapta’s unconscious body and that gives her enough strength to keep her thoughts together and recall one of Perfuma’s breathing exercise. She focuses on it for a moment.

When Catra is mostly herself again, Hordak drops a blanket around her shoulders and sits next to her, letting some good distance between them. Catra still tenses up and her ears flatten while her tail curls protectively around her.

“Why are you hating me so much?” Hordak asks.

“Are you kidding me? You tortured me and sent me to the Crimson Waste to die!”

“And you tried to kill me, and sent Entrapta to Beast island. Then we both got controlled by Prime, I thought you could relate to that a little.”

“You created the Horde on Etheria, you ruled for so much longer than me. You ruined so many of our lives! Do you even regret what you did?”

“I don’t. But you won’t understand.” At his words, Catra recoils in fear. “I won’t hurt you. I won’t hurt people anymore.”

“Then how can you not regret it?”

“My brain doesn’t work like yours. It’s made to be more… logical, less emotional. I can reason why I did what I did. Like I’m sure you do too. If the reasoning is strong enough, I know I couldn’t act differently at the time and I accept it. I won’t do it again but I can’t say I have regrets.”

“So you are just another bot…”

“I thought so too, another clone in Prime’s machine. Stranded on Etheria, deluded, I had only one purpose. Make him proud. I was completely wrong about why, I deceived myself in thinking I was important, because it was the only way to stay sane, but the results were the same. Conquering without empathy. Peace by emptiness. Until I met Entrapta. There is no logic able to explain why I care about her, yet I do. And I’m willing to be anything she wants me to be. That, you can understand.”

Catra can’t help but nod as images of her blonde princess come to her. She wants to change for herself, but if Adora asked, she would change for Adora too, wouldn’t she?

“What now?” Lonnie sighs as she looks at the two, lost in contemplative thoughts. She feels like the only sane and rational person aboard.

“How is Entrapta?” Both ask.

“Honestly, I don’t know. She’s unconscious, her breathing is steady but all I can say is that she probably needs more medical attention. I have no idea if she will suddenly wake up on her own.”

“Then waiting isn’t an option, is it?” Hordak continues. “Wrong Hordak only has order to get help if we aren’t back tonight.”

“Not like we have much choice. In that cold, without proper equipment we won’t get far. We have water and food. Seems like Entrapta loaded quite a stack of tiny snacks. At least it’s warm in here, for now. Is the heating system not working either?”

“It will get cold. Not freezing though, so you should be fine with the blanket in the storage room.” Hordak stands up decidedly.

“Where are you going?” Catra can sense he’s up to something.

“To the Ice Palace.”

“That’s suicidal.”

“I don’t know, my body is more resistant to the cold.”

“I won’t let you. What are we supposed to say to Entrapta when she wakes up?” Catra stands up, letting the blanket fall on the floor, and blocks his way.

“Can you promise she will, if we simply wait for help until tonight?”

“No.” Lonnie interrupts.

“Then I’m going. Why do you care when you hate me so much?”

“I don’t… I don’t want to see someone I hate sacrifice themselves again before I can understand.”

“You can hate me. You can refuse to believe me. You can refuse to trust me. But I’m willing to do anything for Entrapta. You can’t deny me that.”

Catra stands aside and lets him pass.

“If I don’t make it before you are saved, please ask queen Glimmer or Bow to find me. They will know how.”

He doesn’t wait for the two girls to question him any further and makes his way to the broken hatch, tearing it open once again. Catra and Lonnie watch him walk away for a moment, then close the gap as well as they can. Before it gets too cold, they eat some snacks and carefully wraps Entrapta in the blanket from the storage room while the other is still laying on the floor. They sit apart from each other in silence for a moment.

Catra can’t take her eyes off Entrapta. “Am I a bad friend for trying to stop Hordak or not going out there myself?”

“Is your fur any good against that cold?”

“No.” Catra chuckles nervously. “And it’s even worse when I’m wet.”

“Then there is not much you could do. And I hope Hordak didn’t lie about his body.”

The silence returns and Catra begins to shiver slightly with the temperature going down. She tries to ignore it, loops her arms tightly around her knees and some more time passes. Slowly it becomes cold enough even for Lonnie to feel uncomfortable.

“Just take the blanket for now.” Lonnie throws said blanket at Catra.

Catra contemplate the fabric for a little time then suddenly bursts out laughing. “We are so stupid. We’ll end up sharing it eventually anyway, so come here.” She drops one side of the blanket around her shoulders and holds the other open, inviting Lonnie to join her under it. The cold wins and Lonnie comes closer and sits down against Catra, rolling both of them in a warm blanket ball.

“Happy now?” Lonnie asks half annoyed.

“Warm, at least.” Catra scoffs.

“What did you mean about someone you hate sacrificing themselves?”

“Nothing.” Catra sighs. Once again she reminds herself that her _nothing_ doesn’t mean nothing at all and that she should be more open instead, when she uses it. Usually she only commits to do that with Adora, or Sparkles, but the weird situation makes her want to talk instead of risking an awkward silence. “It’s just... Shadow Weaver ruining my life all over again.”

“Oh.” Lonnie feels like she stepped in the Waste and is surrounded by quicksands. “Should I ask?”

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t. Adora would but I would get annoyed, and Sparkles would demand instead of asking and I would yell.” Catra chuckles again. She knows that in both cases she would still answer nonetheless but she isn’t ready to say that openly.

“Maybe another time, then.”

“Do you really not hate Hordak?” Another question to prevent the silence.

“It’s not that simple. Do you want me to hate you again?”

“Please don’t?”

“Then the best I can do is forget everything. Adora believes you changed, Entrapta believes Hordak changed. I don’t know him. I barely spoke to him when we where in the Horde! If I tell myself that you were bad because of Hordak and Shadow Weaver, I should also accept that maybe Hordak was bad because of Prime, right?”

“But he spent so long leading the Horde on Etheria. He made it, took our lives away-”

“How much longer do you think he was _chipped_ before that? A hundred? Two hundred years? Who knows! Entrapta said the clones’ bodies don’t really age when properly maintained. Hunty tells me sometimes how she felt like her mind was being slowly erased while chipped, replaced with Prime’s ideas.”

“I felt that too.” Catra shivers at the memory. “But those things we did still happened, it’s strange to simply close our eyes and forget like they didn’t...”

“Nobody should have the right to judge any of us alone, without the big picture. I certainly don’t want someone to judge me badly only because they happen to be in front of me when I was carrying out one of your orders. But often people asks, like you, to pick a side. Think about your own case; what should I answer when people close to me asks if I hate you? I’m fortunate I don’t have to. Two accepted to tolerate you unless you wrong them again, one doesn’t care and would rather race you or compete in any kind of silly games, and one loves you. The last one, I don’t really know but I guess she has already forgiven you. What do you think?”

“I think you have already been exposed too much to Sparkles influence!” Catra laughs. “So, did you see Scorpia recently?”

“Yeah, she came to Dryl yesterday actually, with the flower princess, Perfuma, was it?”

“Together?! When?”

“Middle of the afternoon? Is that important?”

“Oh yes it is! Well, not _dealing with Hordak and Prime_ important, but _friends’ relationships_ important! What did they come for?”

“I think they wanted to help Entrapta pick clothes for the party.”

“Did they look close?”

“Hey, hey, what are you after?”

“Scorpia deserves someone like her, and I know she’s interested.”

“You really have changed that much?” Lonnie quizzically looks at Catra with keen eyes.

“No! I…” Suddenly realising how she is acting, Catra furiously blushes and faces away. She can’t really move since they are stuck in a comfy blanket ball but she manages to hide her face enough. “After what I did to her, and what I received from Adora, I just want her to be happy too.”

“You know it’s a little late for you to be involved with her.”

“It’s different. Even if I had been… Oh crap!!!” Catra pulls insistently on their cover.

“There’s no need to be rude-” Lonnie is forced to turn around and when she looks in the same direction as Catra she can see Entrapta sitting up, eyes unfocused and foggy. The two girls rush to the princess making sure she doesn’t fall back and pull the blanket back on her shoulders.

“Entrapta! How are you feeling?”

The princess looks at them with a blank expression. “Weird. My head hurts.” As she holds a hand up to her head and touches the bandage, Lonnie gently stops her.

“Don’t worry, it’s only a flesh wound. We were more worried that you wouldn’t wake up.”

“I feel like I’m forgetting something. How long was I out?”

“Two hours, maybe?”

“Thank you for taking care of me. Where is Hordak?”

“He left to get help.” Lonnie decides to keep it vague for now.

“That’s sweet.” But what’s sweet is her voice, unfamiliarly so.

“Do you remember what happened?”

“I think we crashed. There was… something that I didn’t expect… with one of the… thing… I’m not sure, my memories are all mixed up.”

“Don’t worry, take your time.”

“I’m very sorry I got you involved with all of this.”

“Remind me of thinking about it twice next time you ask me to test one of your experiments out of nowhere!” Catra interrupts.

“Oh dear, Catra, you know I mostly asked you to participate because I wanted to spend some time with you, silly. And use the opportunity for you and Hordak to talk a little. Where is my trackpad?”

“Here, but...” Lonnie shows her the poor trackpad. “Can you repair it?”

“I don’t know.” Entrapta softly giggles. “I don’t think it’s worth my time to even bother.”

The fur on Catra’s neck stands on end suddenly and she drags Lonnie a little away from Entrapta and starts whispering. “Isn’t she acting a little weird?”

“She seems normal?” Lonnie whispers back.

“ _Normal_. That’s the problem! Entrapta being normal is not _normal_!”

“Good point but there is nothing we can do about it right now!”

The two girls come back beside Entrapta who looks worried. Catra is starting to think that a _normal_ Entrapta is maybe a good thing. She wouldn’t have so much difficulty around people anymore.

“Is everything all right?” The princess asks softly.

“Everything’s fine!” Catra hastily answers.

Entrapta’s arms loop around Catra and she takes her in a light hug before gently patting her head. “There, there, don’t worry, you can talk to me if you want.”

Catra is too stunned to struggle out of it and Lonnie can’t help a little laugh escape her lips.

“Did I.. drop you yesterday? Why did I do that... Ah, right, assessing your cat-ness. I need to try from higher next time. Let me tell you I’m sorry in advance for when I will.”

“Can’t you simply not do it?!” Catra’s tail is nervously flicking beside her.

“That wouldn’t be very scientific, silly, but I’ll be sure to take measures so it won’t hurt and hug you after if you need it.” Following the tail, Entrapta’s sight fall on her long hair laying on the floor around her. “I should be able to move it, shouldn’t I?” She absent-mindedly notes but the hair doesn’t move.

A concerned frown takes place on Entrapta’s face as she concentrates and tries again but her look soon turns sour, then to horror when she realises she can’t. She briefly panics until her eyes roll back and she passes out again. Catra and Lonnie jump to catch her and softy lay her back down, wrapping her in the blanket once more. Lonnie takes a little time to examine her closely.

“Is she going to be okay?” Catra inquires as she observes Lonnie’s movements.

“Same as before… At least we know her body is fine.” Lonnie sits beside Catra and they roll themselves in the blanket once again.

“When did you pick up the first aid classes?”

“Twelve? You know how Kyle often got injured during training...”

“You were twelve years old?!”

“It’s not like they refused anyone. It was mandatory for the Force Captain but anyone could attend. They did say I was too small when I tried the advanced driving classes though and I had to wait for a free spot for the robotic ones, but the spy bots were so cute I couldn’t resist!”

“Okay, please be honest, how many complementary courses did you take?”

“Sixteen?” There is a mix of pride and sheepishness on her slightly blushing face.

Catra’s jaw drops.

“First aid, advanced driving, robotics, stealth, camouflage, advanced hand-to-hand, exotic melee weapons, snipers, high explosives, track and hunt, demolition, engineering, advanced survival, anti-magic combat, swimming, sewing.” Lonnie enumerates.

“How- wha- wh- when did you find enough time for that?! Some of those are like two hours a day for twenty days?!”

“Those were some rough times, okay? At first I wanted to be the best in our regular training. But I could never since we were around Adora. And you know how she is... It was so infuriating to see her all smile as she said _You can do it!_ or _That was impressive!_ when she could do it perfectly first time without breaking a sweat!”

“I know what you mean… but wow…”

“So I tried to _win_ in variety instead of focusing on the basics. I didn’t need much sleep back then and I kinda got addicted to those extras. A little later I understood that Kyle was being more and more attracted to Rogelio, so I used the extra classes as an excuse to let them be alone for the little bit of free time that we had. But it backfired since they wanted to spend time with me too and we ended up slightly apart for almost a year, which gave me even more time and absolutely no intention to stay inactive and have time to think about it...”

“You call our regular schedule _staying inactive_?! Now _I_ feel almost guilty for skipping so many exercises just to nap! Why the stars was all that not written in your files?!”

“I was a cadet! There were all classes for veterans or Force Captains or specialists. Nobody threw me out because they found it funny but they didn’t risk getting in trouble by acknowledging me either. And I didn’t care… We were in the same group all those years and you never noticed? I’m sure even Adora saw me when I went to some of them.”

“I didn’t care. There were only Adora and me in my world at the time. I can’t believe you told me you couldn’t do your job when you started at the construction site! You would certainly have learnt that too, in time!”

“I was so mad! I spent so much time learning all those things to fight better, and suddenly everything was useless. Even first aid, they had healing magic. Driving? They use horses. Tech? Not used there. Explosives, hunt, demolition? Magic, magic, magic! Even sewing ended up for nothing since Rogelio took over and is way better than me… I know a dozen ways to collapse a house by breaking the right stuff, and out of the blue I was supposed to carve beams, make bricks and dig proper foundations... That was… too much. And you were the one in charge-” Suddenly a warm sensation envelops Lonnie and she tenses up. “Why are you hugging me?”

“I don’t know. It’s what people do to me when I’m like that, even Entrapta tried to comfort me by holding my hand once.” Catra pauses for a second. “Not counting that weird moment earlier!”

“It might work if it was someone I like a little better!”

“Well, yeah, but there’s nobody else and we are stuck close together because of the cold anyway. I’m sorry, I should have talked a little more about the job before getting crazy and dropping another one on you.”

“No! No. I’m happy that Glimmer… that you gave me that one instead. Even if we crashed the fucking spaceship!” Lonnie chuckles. Catra starts to laugh a little. It’s contagious and soon the two of them are laughing loudly. “Okay, I’m all right, you can stop hugging me now.”

Catra lets go but they still need to stay close under the shared blanket. “If everything goes well we should hear the rescue team shortly.”

“Right. Wait. We crashed, Entrapta is wounded and unconscious, Hordak is out there in the freezing cold, most of the ship’s systems are down and we have to share a blanket to stay warm, and we speak about everything going well?! Our heads are completely messed up!”

They laugh again and start sharing lighter banters for a while. It doesn’t take long before a loud crash interrupts them.

“Hey, you in there Horde scum?” Frosta’s voice echoes inside the ship.

“Hi Fro- princess Frosta!” Catra answers uncomfortably.

Frosta bolts into the room and stands in front of Catra, leaning down above her, frowning. “You making fun of me?!”

“No, I’m not.” Catra sighs.

Frosta grunts a little and stares a few more seconds at Catra before facing Lonnie.

“Hi, princess Frosta.” Lonnie tries to sound polite.

Frosta stares and frown at her for a moment too, trying to discern if the girl is messing with her. “Hi.” Then she whistles and everything speeds up. Two other strong figures enter and briefly examine Entrapta before putting her on a stretcher and carrying her outside. Frosta gestures for Catra and Lonnie to stand up and the feline girl grabs Entrapta’s trackpad while the other gets her forgotten stack of papers.

As she sees Lonnie’s Horde uniform, Frosta winces and she composes herself in her dutiful princess role. “My apologies. I meant Catra when I said _Horde scum_ earlier. You are most welcome in my kingdom.” She isn’t sure about her own feelings yet but being welcoming is what has been decided by the Princess Alliance. 

She then presses the two girls out of the ship where they receive another pair of more appropriate blankets for the harsh weather and are invited to take place on the sleds waiting there. Lulled by their fast but smooth movements, the trip to the Ice Palace seems to only last an instant.

\-----

In a room warmed up by a fire, and hot soup for the rescued, Frosta is enthusiastically relating to Catra and Lonnie how Hordak scared half the palace when he arrived exhausted at the door. She is describing without restraint how she punched him in the face, making Catra scoff, and Hordak grunt, when Entrapta wakes up in the bed beside them.

“Entrapta! How are you feeling?”

“Weird. My head hurts.”

Catra looks very worried for a second as a bad feeling creeps up her spine. “Entrapta, do you remember anything?” She asks uneasily.

“Oh! We crashed the ship, right? Now we know that we need node twelve for inertia dampening! Or fifteen? No, fifteen isn’t connected to the main power conduit, it has to be twelve! I’m adding that data as soon as I get my trackpad!” Her eyes circle the room and soon find the broken tool on the table near her bed. She grabs it instantly and starts to tinker. “Do we need to add it to the safety list?” She pats the bandage on her head with a strand of hair and smile sheepishly. “I’m definitely adding it to the safety list! Anything else?”

“No.” Catra laughs honestly. “Everything is back to normal now!”

**Author's Note:**

> All my She-Ra stories are related. Check the serie's notes for more informations!
> 
> Please do share your thoughts in the comments!


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